


Alcatraz 2: Redemption

by torturingtaylor (itzaimster)



Series: New Alcatraz [2]
Category: Hanson
Genre: F/M, Imprisonment, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-03 09:13:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 65
Words: 33,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1739255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzaimster/pseuds/torturingtaylor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Secrets come to the surface as the family slowly reunites.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 2017

“Go help your Mom, okay?”  
“But I want to help you.”  
Taylor looked across at where his eldest daughter sat at the table, her chin in her hands and a smile on her face as her eyes beamed. She knew he couldn’t resist the look and he knew he was about to fall for it again.  
“Fine,” he sighed dramatically, “but if dinner tastes bad I’m going to blame you, okay?”  
“Okay!”  
Taylor smirked to himself as Ezra set the table around him. He noticed the forlorn look on his son’s face and his own fell.  
“Hey,” he reached out to take his shoulder, “you alright?”  
Ezra ducked away and left the room without a word. Taylor grimaced after him but returned his attention to Penny when he heard her move.  
“What’s that for?” she asked, pointing to Taylor’s iPod which was evidently playing into his left ear.  
“Just something to help me concentrate,” he offered her a smile before hearing heavier footsteps coming from where Ezra had disappeared.  
“You guys want to clear out? We’re almost ready,” Natalie spoke loud, unsure if he could hear.  
“Sure,” Taylor agreed, watching after her as she disappeared before turning back to Penny.  
He stood and began to clear up his paperwork, offering his daughter some to carry, before taking it all back into the office. He paused when she left before him to look over the folders from local funeral homes, before forcing himself to switch off the light and head back to the dining table.  
Ezra was back and had finished the table, in time for Natalie to bring Willa in and set her in her higher chair.  
“Where are your brothers?” Natalie asked him as Taylor took his seat at the head.  
“I don’t know,” Ezra shrugged.  
“Could you go find them, please?”  
Ezra again left the room without a word. Taylor watched him go before casting his eyes to his wife.  
“Is he okay?” he asked gingerly, “did something else happen today?”  
“A war happened Taylor,” she managed to keep the scorn from her voice, “we’ll get through it.”  
He jumped as he was suddenly hugged from the right, Penny having taken a quick detour before taking up her place at the table. The next time he looked up the two younger boys were racing in.  
“Hey slow down,” he insisted, “you don’t want to knock anything over.”  
“Sorry Dad,” River gave Viggo an amused look, making the younger one giggle.  
Taylor couldn’t help but smile at the exchange until his eyes fell on Ezra again. He sat on the other side of River and kept his eyes down until Natalie started bringing in the plates.  
“It’s not much, but it’s all we have for now,” Natalie announced as she set plates in front of everyone.  
“It’s enough,” Taylor tried to reassure her.  
“Again?” Viggo pulled a face as soon as he saw what he had.  
Natalie ignored him and left to fetch the rest.  
“Vig’…” Taylor leant forward slightly, “your Mom works really hard to get this for us, okay? A little appreciation wouldn’t go too far right now.”  
The look didn’t leave Viggo’s face, but he apologised. Taylor was about to say something else when a loud crash from the front of the house suddenly pulled him to his feet.


	2. 2020

“Heya.”  
“Hey, we’re almost there,” Ezra said into the phone.  
“How close is almost?”   
“I don’t know,” Ezra scorned, “weren’t you tracking us?”  
“Dude I’ve had like four hours sleep, don’t be a dick.”  
“Everett, you’re on speaker,” Charlotte felt the need to inform him.  
“Oh. Sorry Char.”  
“We’re just heading into the outskirts, you should see us on cam five in about forty seconds,” Ezra rolled his eyes.  
“Gimme a sec.”  
There was an awkward moment of silence, broken only by a rattle Eden was playing with, before Everett finally came back.  
“You’re clear, no one’s followed you or Nat. No patrols due either.”  
“Thanks,” Ezra quickly hung up and set the phone down.  
“How can he be sure?” Charlotte didn’t want to give away too much worry.  
“He’s been doing this a long time,” Ezra assured, suddenly turning off onto a dirt road.  
Charlotte nervously licked her lips, knowing they were going to be the first to arrive at their destination. She wasn’t sure what to expect – all she’d heard were a few names and mention of a ‘ranch’. She’d never even been to Texas before.  
It was still dark as they passed some wire gates, the sunrise not yet popping over the horizon. They’d ended up spending the previous night in a motel just south of the Oklahoma border – such a nerve-wracking experience that Charlotte had barely slept – and opted to wait for the cover of dark to keep moving. So far it had worked, though they hadn’t maintained contact with the other car.  
The sky was lightening substantially when a house finally came into view. Charlotte wasn’t all that sure it wasn’t just a shed at first because it didn’t look very big, but Ezra headed for it all the same. He pulled up beside a couple of beat up old cars and a newish looking Land Rover and shut the car off.  
“Home sweet home,” he mused, keeping his eye on where the front door had already opened.  
There was no light on inside, but Charlotte could vaguely see the outline of a kid heading out. She let herself out of the car and went straight to the back to fetch Eden, soon hearing running footsteps.  
“Ez!” came a familiar scratchy cry.  
She looked up in time to see the cousins do a somewhat complicated-looking handshake.  
“Hey,” Ezra greeted, “who’s up?”  
“Just me and Mon,” Everett was already looking for Charlotte, soon catching her eye and smiling, “but once Uncle Tay gets here they’ll all be up.”  
“How long do we have?” Ezra suddenly sounded nervous.  
“About five?” Everett guessed, already making his way around the other side to where Charlotte now had Eden on her hip, “hey, I’m Everett.”  
Charlotte shook the hand he extended, taking in his long blonde hair which stood out in the dark.  
“Nice to meet you,” she nodded, “…officially.”  
“Is that Eden?” he pointed to her, “I can take her if you want to get the other one.”  
“Um. Thank you,” Charlotte looked curious, but handed her daughter over.  
Everett took her easily and worked his way back to the front of the car.


	3. 2017

“Stay back!” Taylor warned the kids as flashlight beams bounced off the walls.  
“DOWN ON THE FLOOR!” one of the SWAT members screamed as soon as they entered the room, guns armed and pointed in Taylor’s direction.  
“HEY! Hey!” Taylor’s eyes went wide as he fell to his knees, “Please! We’ve got kids here! This isn’t necessary!”  
“STAY DOWN!” she yelled regardless, other members coming from behind her and fanning out into the room.  
“Daddy?!” he heard Penny cry out before Natalie made it back to the room.  
“TAY!” he turned to her scream in time to see one of the officers grab her.  
“NO!” he yelled, “leave her alone! She hasn’t done anything!”  
“Down on your stomach!” the leader ordered, keeping her gun trained on him.  
“Okay!” he assured, “just leave them alone, _please_!”  
He fell to his hands and knees, and down onto his stomach. He saw feet move around him as the other members began their search of the house, and two of them had to hold Natalie back.  
“NO! You’re not taking him! You’ve got no right to do this!”  
Taylor made momentary eye contact with Penny. The terrified look in her eyes immediately broke his heart. But when he saw that she was about to slide out of her seat he shook his head.  
“Stay sitting Pen,” he insisted as calmly as he could manage, before raising his voice, “everyone just stay in your seats!”  
“Jordan Taylor Hanson, you are under arrest,” one of the other SWAT members knelt to his side and pulled his hands behind his back, “you have the right to remain silent, and you do not have the right to an attorney at this point. Do you understand?”  
“Arrested for what?!” he turned his head to the right, trying to catch her eye as she cuffed him.  
“Do you agree that you are male, over eighteen years of age, and are an American citizen as of today’s date?” she otherwise ignored him.  
“TAYLOR!”  
He grimaced at Natalie’s screams, knowing they wouldn’t let her near him.  
“Do you agree?!” the officer’s voice rose.  
“Yes! Yes I agree,” Taylor’s cheek hit the floor in defeat.  
It wasn’t there long. Gloved hands pulled him up to his knees, and then to his feet.   
“Can I at least say goodbye?” his eyes darted between the agents, a few returning to the room after a satisfactory search of the home.  
“Be quick,” the leader nodded, before instructing the excess officers to move out.  
His eye instantly fell on Penny, who had remained seated until this point. She slid out of the chair and rushed to his side, hugging his waist for all she was worth.  
“Dad don’t go!”   
He looked up to see desperation in River’s eyes, but behind him Natalie was crying hysterically.  
“Guys, it’s okay!” he assured, trying to be as genuine as possible, “it’s just a misunderstanding, I’ll be home before you know it.”  
He locked eyes with Natalie, the two of them the only family members to know the full truth. Natalie took the hint and immediately worked to pull herself together.  
“Listen to your father,” she insisted, “he’ll be back in no time. Don’t worry.”  
“Daddy don’t go,” Taylor heard Penny whisper, and quickly leant down to gently kiss her forehead.


	4. 2020

Charlotte barely had Jorryn and his bag out of the car before Ezra had thrown a tarp over it. Taken aback at the sudden movement she stood back with Everett as Ezra worked to conceal the car.  
“Aren’t we in the middle of nowhere?” she raised a brow when Ezra was close enough to hear.  
“Can’t be too careful,” he shot her a glance.  
“We still have the patrols,” Everett offered, swaying Eden on his hip, “they send copters over every couple of days.”  
“Copters?” Charlotte’s brow furrowed, “what for?”  
“Hunters,” Ezra answered for him.  
“We have a bunker we go down,” Everett seemed to sound a lot more enthusiastic than the situation called for, “the heat-seekers can’t see through it.”  
“Hunters?” Charlotte needed to clarify, stepping back as Ezra threw some dirt over the tarp.  
“Yeah,” he brushed his hands off, “when they started hunting a lot of people ran for the borders – Mexico and Canada. We’re a bit too close to the Mexican border here for them to not notice us.”  
“Yeah, that,” Everett agreed, “so we hide.”  
“How many people do you have here?” Charlotte frowned as Ezra made his way back to take Eden from Everett.  
“Umm…” Everett was doing calculations in his head.  
“A few,” Ezra smirked, “but there’s a lot out on the road still. Do you still have contact with all of them?”  
“We lost Phoenix yesterday but we’re kinda hoping they’ll check-in in the morning,” Everett instead grabbed Jorryn’s bag.  
“Great. Mom wants everyone called back as soon as possible,” Ezra started to head into the building, but stopped himself and turned back to face the driveway.  
“Why? Cos Tay’s coming?”  
“What is it?” Charlotte asked worriedly, before following the direction of Ezra’s nod.  
There were headlights far off in the distance. Her heart leapt into her chest for a moment, knowing that it was Jordan and Natalie.  
“Ezra!” came a call from behind, making Charlotte jump.  
“Hey,” Ezra turned with a grin, collecting a hug from the blonde boy about Everett’s age on the side he wasn’t holding Eden.  
“So glad you’re back!”  
“This is Monroe, my brother,” Everett pointed him out, “Mon, this is Char. The one I was telling you about.”  
“Hi,” he waved, not letting go of Ezra, “where’s Uncle Tay?”  
“Incoming,” Ezra indicated where the car was getting closer.  
“I’d better go wake Penny up,” Everett pulled a face before taking Jorryn’s bag back into the building.  
“Penny?” Charlotte immediately caught on, “your sister?”  
Ezra just gave her a grin before looking to the sky. Judging that the sun was far enough into the sky already he put his fingers to his lips and let out a piercing wolf whistle.


	5. 2017

“We’ll work this out,” Natalie insisted, still hysterical but trying to keep it internal.  
“We know what this is,” Taylor kept his voice just above a whisper so the kids couldn’t hear, “there’s nothing to work out.”  
“They’ll take you to Houston, right? That’s the closest-“  
“Nat,” Taylor shook his head, trying to keep her attention, “just kiss me will you?”  
Natalie gulped as her eyes welled up, before taking his face in her hands and planting a kiss on his lips. They ignored the SWAT leader clearing her throat in the background, pausing only to rest their foreheads against each other.  
“I love you,” Taylor whispered.  
“I love you more,” Natalie whispered back, before planting another kiss.  
The second she backed away one of the SWAT members took Taylor’s arm and pulled him toward the door.   
“Daddy!”  
Natalie took hold of Penny before she could run after him, both girls in tears as he disappeared from sight. One of the SWAT agents handed Natalie a sealed envelope before the rest of them simply left the room.  
“Oh God,” Natalie fell into Taylor’s chair, unable to bring herself to make sure they saw themselves out.  
Penny remained clinging to her, and River and Viggo soon made their way to her side. They let her cry for a time as they clearly heard the SWAT vans outside leaving. The sound was soon replaced with running footsteps, and Natalie quickly wiped her eyes as one of the neighbours appeared in the doorway.  
“Natalie?!” she panicked until she came across the scene.  
“We’re here, we’re okay,” she insisted, untangling herself from the kids and getting to her feet.  
“What happened?! We saw Taylor…”  
Natalie just shook her head, unable to talk about it yet. She stared at the envelope for a moment before forcibly ripping into it.  
“What is it?” River asked, keeping watch from the side.  
“Oh Penny…” the neighbour cooed, pulling the crying girl into her arms to try and console her.  
Natalie quickly scanned down the court order, her expression growing more distant with every line. It took some time before she realised the neighbour was talking to her, but she ignored the words and instead headed for the kitchen.  
Grabbing the cordless phone, she speed dialled 5 and put the phone to her ear. Coming back to the doorway she froze when her eyes fell on Ezra.  
He hadn’t moved from his place at the table, but his face had gone white. Already praying that he hadn’t gone into shock she managed to snap out of it when a worried voice came down the line.  
“Jess? It’s Nat,” she finally locked eyes with the neighbour who was frowning, “they’re coming. You need to get Joe out of town _tonight_.”


	6. 2020

Charlotte stood back as random people started to appear from the building, evidently woken by Ezra’s signal. She worried for a moment that the refuge was the front for some kind of cult, but became too distracted by the buzz to worry all that much.  
“Hi, you must be Charlotte,” a brunette offered her hand with a charming smile.  
Charlotte quickly shifted Jorryn before accepting. She barely looked awake but her smile seemed genuine.  
“Yeah, I am,” she smiled back out of habit.  
“I’m Nikki, Everett’s Mom.”  
“Oh…” Charlotte quickly worked out in her head that she had to be a sister of Jordan’s, and it instantly made her feel awkward.  
“Who’s this?” Nikki didn’t seem to notice.  
“Jorryn,” Charlotte was glad for the distraction, “and… Ezra, has Eden.”  
“Jorryn and Eden. Great names.”  
“Thanks,” Charlotte mused, “I like Everett myself.”  
Nikki looked up to where the car was approaching steadily, everyone now clearly able to hear the tracks it was making. The distraction led Charlotte to look back at the house, and she did a sudden double take.  
A man of about Jordan’s age had appeared and was standing on the verge of the patio, leaning against a pole with his eyes on the car himself.  
“Who’s that?” she heard herself ask before her brain registered the question.  
Nikki turned to see who she meant, giving a short shrug as she turned back.  
“That’s Joe,” she brushed off, “he’s… well, I’m sure we’ll all be introduced shortly.”  
Charlotte nodded at that as Nikki stepped past and out onto the driveway. One of the younger boys who’d appeared took the moment to jump onto the hood of one of the older cars and up onto the roof, garnering the best view of the incoming vehicle. It didn’t take long at all for the car to pull in beside Charlotte’s, Monroe standing in the headlights to direct it forward. Charlotte could just make out Jordan’s face in the passenger seat as he tried to make out the faces surrounding the car.  
“Whoa!” Monroe called out, making Natalie stop the car.  
Jordan’s door was the first open, and Nikki pushed one of the boys forward. Ezra stood back with Charlotte in order to let the small mob through, the one who’d jumped onto the car immediately sliding down one of the doors and ducking through everyone else.  
“DAD!” she heard him yell, feeling a shiver run down her spine already.  
She had no idea which of the kids running around potentially belonged to Jordan.  
“Viggo!” came his response as he collected the boy into his arms.  
As he hugged him his eyes fell on the next boy in line, and he reached out his left arm to pull him into the hug too. Charlotte couldn’t hear what Jordan said to them, but she was distracted again by Ezra taking a step back. When she followed his line of sight her eyes fell on a blonde teenager, slightly shorter than Ezra but with a similar thin frame. She was making her way slowly toward him, her eyes locked to the group in front of them.  
“You did it,” she said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
“We did it,” Ezra corrected, adjusting Eden again on his hip.  
“Thank you,” she whispered, leaning over to lightly kiss his cheek.  
When Jordan’s eyes suddenly fell on the pair though, his face seemed to whiten.


	7. 2017

“This is ludicrous!”  
“Mr Hanson if you do not control yourself, I _will_ find you in contempt of court,” the judge warned as he ran his fingers through his hair incredulously.  
“Why not?” he scorned, “you haven’t given me the right to legal counsel. You won’t even let me _call_ my family. We all know this is just a front for the state to pimp me out to teenage girls for their little breeding program so let’s quit playing the game and get this over with!”  
The judge huffed to herself, adjusting the glasses on her nose.  
“I mean what rights do I actually have?!”  
“The right to remain silent. I’d use it if I were you.”  
 _You’re not me_ , Taylor scorned in his head, eyeing the few other officers in the room with a glare in his eyes.  
“Very well then,” the judge moved some papers on her desk, soon following lines with her pointer finger.  
“Jordan Taylor Hanson, you are formally sentenced to immediate detention until such time as a review of your charges can be scheduled…”  
He scoffed at that.  
“You’ll be transferred to Chicago first thing in the morning.”  
“Chicago?” he’d blanched, “why not Houston? Houston’s our nearest district.”  
Natalie had focused on Houston, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to contact her. If he went to Chicago Natalie wouldn’t know to look for him there.  
“Houston neither has the facilities nor the room – Chicago meanwhile is in need.”  
Taylor couldn’t help but gulp slightly, knowing what that meant.  
“Next!” she announced, landing the hammer and looking to her books.  
“That’s it?” Taylor shook his head, mostly to himself, “this is how you deal with peoples’ lives now? We were never told we’d be fighting for a country that finds its citizens disposable.”  
“You’re not disposable,” the nearby guard heard his muttered words as she came to lead him away, “in fact, quite the opposite. You’re very needed.”  
“I’m needed at home,” Taylor countered, his eyes narrowing as he was again cuffed.  
“You’re needed in Chicago more,” the guard seemed to be trying to reassure, rather than argue.  
Taylor just shook his head, knowing it wasn’t worth the argument. Even if the guard may not have agreed with what was going on, it was her job not to let on otherwise. He let her lead him out of the courtroom without a fuss, heading for the holding cells at the back where a few other prisoners were kept. He was entered into a cell of his own – away from the female prisoners, some evidently promiscuous – and he quietly took up a seat against the back wall.   
“Hey honey,” one of them almost immediately leant suggestively on the bars between the cells, “where you headed?”  
Taylor didn’t even offer her a glance. His mind was in a whirl as it already started playing out what might happen in Chicago.


	8. 2020

Time seemed to slow down as Jordan zeroed in on them, making his way through the group without a word. Charlotte saw tears in the blonde’s eyes already as Jordan took a step up to the patio and swept her into his arms.  
“Hey Dad,” the girl’s voice broke.  
“Hey Pen.”  
Charlotte looked to Ezra who was indicating for her to follow him. Not wanting to miss what happened next but respecting that they needed time, she relented and let Ezra lead her into the house. The lights had already been turned on and they walked through a messy kitchen into a larger living area where Charlotte spotted Jorryn’s bag.  
“Was that your sister?” Charlotte asked once they were out of earshot.  
“Yeah,” Ezra set Eden down onto the floor, “one of them, anyway. Penny took it hardest when Dad left though.”  
Charlotte nodded, looking around the room. There was a playpen set up in a corner but she felt she’d be overstepping if she assumed she could set Jorryn down in it.   
“They seem really close,” she looked back, hearing footsteps.  
“She was always the favourite,” Ezra couldn’t keep the scorn from his voice, also looking up as his mother appeared.  
“Want to set Charlotte up in Avery’s room for now?” Natalie directed her question to Ezra, “we’ll sort out something more permanent when we hear back from Phoenix.”  
“Sure,” Ezra nodded, watching after her as she left before indicating for Charlotte to follow him again.  
She eyed Eden for a moment – not sure about leaving her alone with Natalie – but followed him through a far doorway. He led her to a somewhat neat bedroom, turning on the light for her and stepping back.  
“We have a few cribs around they can use,” he informed her, “I’ll turn some up and find some bedding. We don’t have anyone here under five anymore.”  
“Thanks,” Charlotte nodded, already getting her bearings.  
“No problem,” he nodded, “bathroom’s through here, and there’s a potty and nappies and things in the hallway closet.”  
“There sure are a lot of kids here,” Charlotte had to mention.  
“Yeah,” Ezra smirked, “but there used to be more.”  
He slapped the wall and headed back down the hall. Charlotte stopped to look the room over before turning the light off and following him back.  
She found him stopped at the end of the hall talking to Everett.  
“I don’t know what to tell you,” he was shrugging, “they just cut off all contact. But you do that all the time so like I said, we weren’t going to worry unless we didn’t hear from them today.”  
“Who’s on the team?” Ezra folded his arms.  
“It’s Auntie Avie’s team,” Everett shrugged again.  
“If you don’t hear from them within the hour, let me know,” Ezra insisted, “we need to get everyone back here ASAP.”  
“What about Gramps?”  
Ezra hesitated, leaning forward slightly to make sure Natalie wasn’t listening in.  
“Him too, if we can,” he insisted, giving Everett a pat on the shoulder as he stepped past.


	9. 2020

At Ezra’s instruction, Charlotte finally relieved herself of Jorryn’s weight and set him down in the playpen.  
“Are you tired?” he asked as a couple of the younger kids suddenly came racing through.  
Charlotte took note of him ignoring them, and wondered who their parents were.  
“A little,” she admitted, “but I don’t think I could sleep.”  
Ezra nodded before turning to head for the kitchen.  
“Food then,” he smirked, “perks of arriving in time for breakfast!”  
Charlotte mused as she followed him, staying in the doorway so she could keep an eye on her kids. Nikki and a blonde girl about Charlotte’s age were already bustling around, a pile of plates on the table and cutlery in a basket nearby.  
“Need any help?” Ezra offered, leaning over the table.  
“We’re good, but you can crank up the coffee machine if you want to be useful,” the blonde looked up with a smile before almost jumping as she saw Charlotte in the doorway.  
She quickly wiped her hands off on her dress and stepped around the table.  
“You must be Charlotte,” she beamed, “I’m Zoe, Taylor’s sister.”  
“Dad’s youngest sister,” Ezra corrected, unsure if Charlotte had gotten her head around the names yet.  
Charlotte hesitated at Ezra’s explanation, before turning her eyes back to Zoe and shaking her offered hand.  
“Nice to meet you,” she nodded, seeing Zoe give Ezra a weird look.  
“Is he still doing the Jordan thing?” she raised a brow.  
“As far as I know,” Ezra shrugged, “Char knew him as Jordan.”  
“Was that because he told you or because the program told you?” Zoe asked, catching Nikki’s attention.  
“He told me,” Charlotte was suddenly wary, not sure how much Zoe knew.  
Zoe rolled her eyes and headed back to her place at the stove.  
“The whole thing is stupid. It’s not as if he has something to hide.”  
“Maybe he just needs to try something different for a while,” Nikki suggested calmly, “start fresh, if you know what I mean.”  
“Look at you defending him,” Zoe mused, giving her a friendly shove in the shoulder.  
“It’s good to have him back,” Nikki assured.  
“How long ‘til food’s up?” Ezra cleared his throat.  
“It’ll be up when it’s up,” Nikki shot him a glance, “can you round up my three please?”  
“And have you seen Hans?” Zoe asked.  
“I saw a blur that _looked_ like Hans.”  
“Grab him too,” Zoe turned back to the stove again.  
“Yes ma’am,” Ezra smirked, leaving the kitchen.  
Charlotte waited awkwardly for a moment, before the girls started talking again and she quietly turned to head back to her own kids.


	10. 2020

“Wow,” Jordan’s eyebrows rose.  
“What?” Zoe paused from where she sat across the table from him.  
“I just…”  
Charlotte watched curiously as he struggled to find the words, before breaking out in a short chuckle.  
“I just had no idea that I missed coffee so much that one you made would taste this good.”  
“Screw you!” Zoe threw a grape at him.  
He smirked as he set the mug down. Breakfast at the ranch was in full swing – the adults sitting around the large dining table while the kids had scattered throughout the house. Ezra and Penny had both taken up a bench with their plates and were picking at the buffet as they saw fit.  
“So what did you do?” Nikki tried to engage Charlotte, “for a job, I mean.”  
“Oh, nothing really…” Charlotte felt her face going red, “I worked retail for a short time before…”  
She found herself unable to finish the sentence. She also instantly noticed an awkward look cross Jordan’s face.  
“Before the program?” Natalie offered as naturally as ever from her seat between them.  
Charlotte nodded.  
“How did you get into the program?” Nikki genuinely seemed interested, “I mean did you have to apply? Did you get called up for it?”  
“Your doctor recommends you…” Charlotte had thought she couldn’t feel any more embarrassed but had already found out she was wrong, “usually once you turn 20. I put off seeing the doc for a couple of years but I ended up getting sick.”  
She shrugged.  
“It wasn’t really something I wanted to put myself forward for but the money I got was a big help.”  
“So you had kids for the money?” Natalie frowned.  
“No,” Charlotte suddenly realised how it must have sounded, “I had kids because I wanted to at some point, and figured I might as well get it over with. And I would have been happy with Eden as an only child but they insisted that I had to try again…”  
“It’s such a farming scenario,” Zoe frowned, “it’s like breeding to get the right eye colour or height or something, only they’re focused on gender. It’s kind’ve like Hitler trying to out-breed the Jews.”  
“Except they don’t have to kill anyone,” Joe cut in.  
“Actually…” Charlotte winced, “I was warned that if Jorryn had been a girl, it would be a forced termination.”  
“Are you kidding?” Zoe’s eyes widened.  
“You don’t know the half of it,” Natalie insisted.  
“And I don’t think they need to,” Jordan suggested softly, “we all know it’s wrong, but we all know this is something that isn’t going away anytime soon. So let’s not get caught up in the details until we absolutely have to.”  
“ _So_ wrong,” Zoe scoffed.  
“How long until the teams get back?” Natalie changed the subject.  
“Have to ask Everett,” Ezra piped up, “but Houston should be back soon, you’d think.”  
“Anything from Phoenix?”  
“Not that I’ve heard,” Ezra shook his head.


	11. 2017

“Here are your clothes and towel,” the officer handed over a bundle, “I take it you have nothing in your pockets?”  
“They took everything in Tulsa,” Taylor replied, forlorn.  
The officer didn’t even seem to notice, placing a pair of basic slippers on top of the bundle along with a bar of soap.  
“After you shower, change into these and you’ll be escorted to your cell,” she went on, “you’ll also be required to remove your wedding ring.”  
“Why?” Taylor immediately frowned, going on the defensive.  
“We have a strict no-jewellery policy-“  
“It’s not jewellery!”  
The woman sighed, as if she’d been through this a thousand times already.  
“You’re aware that the state of Illinois no longer recognises the legal definition of ‘marriage’, yes?”  
“I am,” Taylor agreed, “but does it not recognise Christianity within the state either? The sanctity of a Holy union and all that?”  
“The state no longer recognises religion as an excuse for anything,” the officer scorned.  
“ _Excuse_?”  
“Down there,” she pointed, her voice stern, “bathrooms are on the right. Bring me back your clothes and your wedding ring. Get going.”  
Taylor grit his teeth, taking the bundle into his arms and following another guard down the wire mesh corridor. They soon came to a locker-style shower and the guard waited at the door as Taylor went in. Aside from a waist-height panel he was still in clear view of her and it left him blushing as he went about his business.  
He spent the majority of the time under the water trying to convince himself that giving up the ring was not such a big deal, but when his thought pattern strayed to ‘it’s only fifteen years…’ he knew it wasn’t going to be easy. He finished quickly and dressed in the detention jumpsuit before gathering his last prison clothes and following the guard back to the administration.  
“The ring,” she noticed it missing right away.  
Taylor spun it around his finger for a moment, keeping his eyes down.  
“You realise you’re asking me to give up the last fifteen years of my life, right?” he figured he might as well give it a go.  
“A lot of people have lost a lot more than that in the last year alone,” she wasn’t taking the bait, “the ring. _Now_. Do not make us use force.”  
Taylor wasn’t even sure if he could get it off. But he knew he had to try. It finally came free just as he was starting to panic on the fifth attempt and he hesitantly set it atop the pile of clothes. The woman took the pile away almost immediately and a second guard appeared to escort him away.  
The detention centre walls were a dull grey mixed with lime green. He couldn’t see into any of the cells, so had no idea how many were even occupied.   
He was led to an open door halfway down the left side of the corridor and told to step in. Without saying a word but gingerly rubbing his left arm he did as instructed.  
“A doctor will be in to see you in the morning,” one of his escorts informed him as he looked around the small space, “dinner comes at 6pm. Make yourself comfortable.”  
And the door closed, with the sound of a heavy bolt being driven into place.


	12. 2020

“What can I do?” Charlotte asked as she wrung her hands.  
“Nothing,” Zoe offered her a smile, “for now, you’re our guest.”  
“I still want to feel helpful,” Charlotte winced.  
Zoe had started taking care of the dishes, the rest of the family having scattered once breakfast was done. Natalie had insisted she needed to speak with Jordan alone and they’d disappeared quietly out the back somewhere.  
“Just use the time to settle in,” Zoe shrugged, “get the little ones used to the place. It’s a big ranch, you could take one of the prams out and go for a walk through the orchard…”  
“There’s an orchard?”  
“It’s a big ranch,” Zoe mused.  
“Is everyone here related?”  
“Mostly,” Zoe nodded, getting on with her cleaning as she happily answered, “and there’s a few missing. I think… everyone here now is related. Some of the teams we send out for activism are just friends but we’re pretty tight-knit.”  
“So…” Charlotte tried to get her head around it, “how many of you are there?”  
“Twelve here now,” Zoe thought as she spoke, “we usually send out teams of three and there’s Phoenix, Houston, Chicago… no wait. Phoenix, Houston and Salt Lake City. So there’s another nine out there right now who it sounds like should be back soon.”  
She paused.  
“Oh, and Dad’s still in Chicago. So it’s twenty-two all up.”  
“Is Natalie… sort of the head of the operation?” Charlotte felt weird asking.  
“We don’t really have a ‘head’, so to speak,” Zoe shrugged, “she just became the voice for it publicly. She went through a lot when Tay was taken and people responded well to the passion behind her words.”  
“Ezra seems to have the same effect.”  
“Ezra has issues,” Zoe’s voice lowered a little, “but they’re completely understandable. Everyone does, I guess.”  
Charlotte nodded, wondering what she meant but not willing to press the issue yet.  
“So… Jordan told me… or maybe Ezra did… he lost three brothers in the war?”  
For the first time she saw Zoe’s face fall a little.  
“Is that how Nikki fits in? Are a lot of these kids theirs?”  
“Yeah,” Zoe cleared her throat a little, “Nikki is Ike’s wife – Ike was the eldest. Three of the kids belong to them. But then Hans is Jess and Joe’s – Jess is in Houston right now, she’s my eldest sister – and the rest are Tay and Nat’s.”  
Charlotte nodded, registering she’d hit a sore point.  
“What about the other two brothers?”  
“Zac and Mac,” Zoe nodded, “Zac’s wife and kids aren’t here. Mac never married.”  
“And there’s another sister? I heard Ezra…”  
“Avie,” Zoe smiled again, “yeah, we’re a big family. Which is a good thing right now because we really need all the support we can get.”


	13. 2020

“I can’t help but notice there’s a few people missing,” Taylor slid his hands into his pockets as they walked toward one of the outdoor table areas.  
“There is,” Natalie agreed, “Avie has a team in Phoenix and Jess is already in Houston, but I believe Jess is on her way back-“  
“I meant Kate,” Taylor shot her a glance, “where is she?”  
“Oh,” Natalie chewed her lip a moment.  
They took up a couple of plastic chairs as Natalie thought of what to say.  
“Are they alright?” Taylor’s brow furrowed with concern.  
“They’re fine, as far as we know,” Natalie shrugged.  
“As far as you know?”  
“Kate came to the ranch with the kids after you were taken, along with most everyone,” Natalie attempted to explain, “some came later but… you get the point. She tried, she really did. But after a few months it became obvious it wasn’t working for her here. The kids were fighting, she and I… we just couldn’t see eye to eye.”  
Taylor diverted his eyes, knowing it was very much his fault.  
“She didn’t tell us where she was going but I had Everett check on her every now and then to begin with,” Natalie admitted, “she went back to Atlanta and as far as I know she stayed there.”  
“Does she check in?”  
“No,” Natalie shook her head, “but I didn’t expect her to.”  
Taylor sighed, leaning forward onto the table.  
“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.  
Natalie wanted to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him.  
“It was never going to work,” she settled for, “there’s no real point in dwelling on it.”  
Taylor nodded at that, falling silent as he thought it over.  
“I need you to tell me what happened,” Natalie insisted after a moment of awkward silence.  
“Already?” Taylor looked up.  
“We need to know,” Natalie tried not to sound too forceful, “we have a lot riding on this. On you.”  
“I just don’t know if I’m ready,” Taylor admitted, rubbing his hands together nervously.  
“I’m not asking as your wife,” Natalie insisted, “I’m asking as the forefront of project Liberty.”  
“Project Liberty?” Taylor’s eyebrows rose.  
“We needed a working title. But look… we didn’t know when Charlotte came to us that it was going to be you that we saved,” she tried to reason, “it was a completely unexpected bonus in our eyes. We just needed a ‘deserter’ who could take a stand and tell people what’s been going on inside.”  
“You mean all the gory details?” Taylor pulled a face, “or the conditions, the treatment, what?”  
“Everything,” Natalie shrugged, “the more we have against them the better.”  
Taylor grimaced at that and covered his mouth with his hand.   
“We heard the numbers you kept,” she went on, “of how many times you’d been raped. Were they accurate?”  
“As far as I know,” he shrugged, “I could have lost count somewhere, I don’t know.”  
“How soon did it start?”  
Taylor sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to get out of it. He looked out over the yard as he decided how to word his response.  
“It started from the second night I was there.”


	14. 2017

Taylor awoke with a start, sitting up on the bed and rubbing his eyes. The cell was still in darkness but his door was being opened.  
As the sliver of light from the corridor appeared, his light finally came on.  
“Wakey wakey,” came a condescending tone from the guard that entered.  
She wasn’t alone. A second guard entered behind her and closed the door enough so that anyone walking by couldn’t see in.  
“What’s wrong?” Taylor asked worriedly, still struggling to wake up.  
He had no idea how long he’d been asleep.  
“Nothing,” the same guard responded – the second remaining by the door, “but your test results came back. You’re clean.”  
“Am I supposed to be surprised?” Taylor squinted, more from the light than contempt.  
“You could be a little more enthusiastic.”  
“What time is it?” he rubbed his eyes again, suddenly wishing he had a clock somewhere other than the television which was turned off.  
“Time for you to show us what you’ve got.”  
“What?”  
Taylor’s face paled as he caught on to what was happening, only confirmed when the guard started removing her clothes. This wasn’t just some initial roughhousing… they were actually going to test him.  
He instantly backed himself up against the wall, already realising he was cornering himself. The second guard had a smirk on her face as she watched on in silence.  
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way…” the instigator warned as she stripped to her underwear, “but I’ll admit, the hard way is more fun.”  
“What’s the hard way?” Taylor’s eyes darted between them, wondering at the lesser of two evils.  
“Grab his legs.”  
Taylor jumped back defensively as the guard at the door came forward. But they both made it to him at the same time and he was most definitely outnumbered. Still he didn’t go down without a fight, one of them taking the opportunity when he tried to use his hands to deflect them to quickly snap a handcuff around one of his wrists.  
“Lay down!” the instigator ordered.  
“Wait!” Taylor was panicking, “what can I do to make this _not_ happen?! Name it! What do you want?!”  
His answer was the guard grabbing her baton and giving him a sharp blow across the chest. Winded from the hit he could only cough as she looped the handcuff around a railing at the top of the bed and secured his other wrist. The other guard had a good hold on both ankles and wasn’t letting go.  
“Guess he wanted the hard way,” the half-naked one smirked as she climbed onto the bed and began undoing the press studs that led to his crotch.  
The other guard only grinned back as her colleague went about getting him ready.  
“Please don’t do this,” Taylor begged, pulling on the cuffs as he struggled to get his breath back.  
She hit him again.  
“Our inmates need to be _silent_ during their liaisons,” she said pointedly, “we don’t need them intimidating the clientele.”


	15. 2020

“What happens if the guards get pregnant?” Natalie frowned.  
“As far as I know they never did,” Taylor shrugged, “they either made us wear a condom or… I don’t know. Maybe they were on contraception or timed it just right. Maybe some of them were in the program themselves.”  
“Was Holden there the entire time?”  
“No,” Taylor shook his head, “I lost track of time but I don’t think she started working there until sometime in 2018. She transferred in from somewhere but I don’t remember where.”  
“Charlotte did say she was the ‘main offender’,” Natalie looked thoughtful, “how many guards attacked you?”  
Taylor hesitated, keeping his gaze across the yard.   
“Tay?”  
“At least half,” he replied softly, “or half the ones I had anything to do with. I wasn’t privy to how many worked there or whatever.”  
Natalie nodded, wishing she had something to write it all down with.  
“Would you be able to identify them?”  
“Not all of them,” he shook his head, “I don’t remember what most of them looked like. They were just another number in the total.”  
He smirked.  
“And before you ask I wouldn’t _begin_ to be able to identify any of the clients.”  
“Any of them?” Natalie frowned.  
“Well…” he considered, “maybe one or two that were memorable but that’s it. Charlotte had to turn up multiple times and actually engage in conversation for me to remember her. Ninety percent followed the rules and didn’t talk.”  
“Can you walk me through a typical liaison?” Natalie leant forward.  
Taylor shot her a glance, before returning his gaze to the yard. He watched one of the cats stroll through looking for something to chase.  
“Tay?”  
“It’s Jordan,” Taylor corrected, unable to keep some of the scorn from his voice.  
Natalie pursed her lips, knowing not to push him on the subject. If she was honest with herself she’d just avoided using the name altogether since he’d decided on the change.  
“What’s going on with Ezra?” he changed the subject, “is there something I should know?”  
“Ezra is Ezra,” Natalie shook her head, “we’ve been too focused on the operation to really talk. I think he might be harbouring some guilt over leaving things off the way he did with you that night.”  
“Not my finest moment,” Taylor rubbed his bottom lip, “where is she?”  
“With your Mom in Salt Lake. They’re on their way back today.”  
“Is Mom okay?”  
“She’ll be ecstatic when she sees you,” Natalie offered him a smile, “so will Avie and Jess. Zoe already has a lot more life in her this morning.”  
“They shouldn’t be too excited,” Taylor sat back and folded his arms, “it’s not like I’m going to be able to do anything for a while yet.”  
“You’re their family, and you’re home,” Natalie put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, “it’s the best thing to happen to this place since we arrived.”


	16. 2020

“How are you?”  
Charlotte jumped and looked up from where she’d been laying on her bed staring at the ceiling. She hadn’t heard Ezra come to the doorway, so his voice had startled her.  
“Sorry,” he mused, “can’t sleep?”  
“I just don’t feel right… leaving everyone to look after my kids,” she frowned.  
“It’s no bother,” Ezra assured wholeheartedly, “as you can probably tell, no one’s new to the concept.”  
“I’ve never been in a place where the kids outnumber the adults so much,” Charlotte leant up a little.  
“Not even a school?” Ezra took it as a sign he could enter and stepped inside the door.  
“You know what I mean,” Charlotte rolled her eyes, “somewhere informal. Somewhere I’m expected to sleep.”  
“You’ll get used to it,” Ezra shrugged as he folded his arms, “you know… if you find you want to stay.”  
“Why wouldn’t I?” Charlotte frowned.  
“I don’t know,” he shrugged again, “people come and go. It’s a refuge, not a prison camp.”  
“I get it,” she assured, “so what happens when the teams get back?”  
“We’ll regroup,” Ezra seemed to consider, “I know they want to take Dad straight to Houston, but… I’m not so sure it’s a good idea.”  
“No?” Charlotte raised a brow.  
“The second he steps out in public they’re gonna grab him,” Ezra shook his head, “in their eyes he’s a criminal on the run. A lot of us are.”  
Charlotte hesitated, knowing he was right.  
“Is there a way for him to make contact without exposing himself?” she suggested, “like over the internet maybe?”  
“I’m sure we’ll have a big brainstorming session tonight when everyone’s here,” Ezra brushed off, “but it’s definitely something we could do without being traced.”  
There was a moment of silence between them, children’s laughter heard somewhere in the distance.  
“Do you want something to help you sleep?” Ezra suddenly offered, “we did have a long night.”  
“What do you have?” Charlotte was apprehensive.  
“I was thinking something along the lines of lavender tea maybe?” he suggested, “I could get Zoe to put something together.”  
“I don’t want to be more of a bother.”  
“You aren’t,” Ezra smirked, “believe me, they’re glad to have a fresh face around here. I’ll be back.”  
Charlotte watched him leave before laying back onto the bed in defeat. She felt like she’d stepped into an entirely new world. Over the past couple of years she’d worked so hard to find her independence and to escape the strangle hold her mother had seemed to have over her, and now she was in a place where people seemed to go out of their way to try and make her happy. The whole thing was making her uneasy and a little suspicious.  
Not to mention that both Joe and Jordan were here. She undoubtedly trusted Ezra – despite still feeling betrayed by him, she understood his reasons – but she didn’t know Joe, and Jordan was still a deserter.  
She needed to find out more.


	17. 2020

Charlotte was woken with a start at a commotion in the distance. She hadn’t even realised she’d fallen asleep, but when her eyes finally focused she saw that the sun was just going down.  
Footsteps ran past her doorway and down the hall toward the kitchen area. She could hear excited voices – including Zoe’s – coming from that direction. Guessing that she probably wouldn’t get back to sleep anytime soon she decided to get up and follow the noise.  
There was a congregation of children in the living room, only half of whose names she’d learned so far, with a few adults toward the kitchen doorway. Joe was trying to wrangle some of them and so Charlotte stood back.  
A blonde with similar features to Zoe suddenly appeared and her eyes lit up as she bee lined for Joe.  
“Joe!” she threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him.  
“Hey you,” he chuckled when she pulled back, “how did it go?”  
“Same old same old,” she shrugged, “but we might finally be getting somewhere with the military angle. I wish you could have been there for my speech yesterday, it was awesome!”  
“Same here,” Joe grinned, not taking his eyes off her, “I bet you were amazing.”  
Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief when Ezra suddenly appeared from the fray and spotted her. He smirked in the couples’ direction as he headed over.  
“One of the teams?” she guessed, folding her arms.  
“Yeah,” he nodded, leaning against the wall beside her, “that’s my Aunt Jess. Chloe and Avril are in the kitchen. And if it helps, Chloe and Avril aren’t related.”  
Charlotte gave him an odd look, spotting the cheeky look on his face instantly.  
“Thanks,” she drawled.  
“No problem,” Ezra set to watching the couple as the youngest boy of the clan suddenly clung to Jessica’s pants and refused to let go.  
With a grin strikingly similar to Jordan’s she knelt to his side to hug him instead.  
“Where were they?” Charlotte asked absently.  
“Houston,” Ezra replied straight away.  
“I bet they had it tough,” her eyebrows rose, “being where the president is and all.”  
“None more so than the rest of us I don’t think,” Ezra considered, “we still can’t get close to her.”  
“You’ve tried?”  
“Sure,” he shrugged, “but either the press have convinced her – or she’s convinced them – that we’re either dangerous or just fanatics. She won’t hear what we have to say unless we get a certain percentage of the population behind our cause.”  
“How much?” Charlotte frowned, making him smirk.  
“Let’s just say we’re getting there,” he assured, before Charlotte jumped when she felt a hand suddenly on her shoulder.  
Realising she was in the way, she stepped aside for Jordan. He’d obviously been sleeping down the same corridor but looked as if he’d gotten hardly any.  
Jessica’s eyes fell on him instantly.  
“Tay?” she stood, untangling herself from the youngster’s clutches.  
“Jess,” he sounded tired too.  
Two steps and they were in each other’s arms, Jess closing her eyes tight as if she were afraid he weren’t really there.  
“I missed you,” she whispered.


	18. 2017

Taylor felt his hands shaking as he sat on the edge of the bed and cupped his chin. The vibration was making his teeth chatter but he didn’t want to move. He did however flinch when the lights came on again before soon realising he’d barely slept at all that night.  
He couldn’t tell if the shakes were from anger or fear. Perhaps both.  
Debating whether to move across and turn the television on as he had the morning before, his eyes went to the door as he heard the footsteps of the morning patrol. They unexpectedly stopped at his door and as Taylor heard the bolts being undone he shot to his feet and backed away from the bed.  
“Out!” the guard ordered the moment she was in view.  
“Excuse me?” he frowned, arms folded across his chest defensively.  
“Out,” she repeated, “it’s your time out. I’d make the most of it if I were you.”  
Taylor wasn’t entirely sure what she meant but considering the events of the night before he wasn’t confident in his ability to reject any orders. Gritting his teeth he forced himself to slink through the door and into the hallway. The guard didn’t bother closing the door behind him, and Taylor instantly realised she wasn’t alone.  
“This way,” the second guard led him back down the hall toward where he’d come in.  
With a glance over his shoulder to check where the first guard was, he let them lead him through to what must have been a main cafeteria area in the past. He could see women working in the kitchen and one of the guards insisted he head up to the Bain Marie to fetch his own breakfast.  
The woman behind the counter immediately caught his eye.  
“Hey new guy!” she greeted in a friendly manner, “when did you get in?”  
Taylor hesitated, caught off guard by her genuine demeanour. He hadn’t met anyone this bubbly in well over a year.  
“Come on, I don’t bite,” she teased as she set another tray in place.  
“A few days ago,” he responded softly, eyes narrowing as he attempted to size her up.  
“Where you from?” she was giving him a curious look now, “go ahead and grab a plate, you won’t have much time to dawdle.”  
“So this is just a breakfast run?” he looked over his shoulder apprehensively.  
The guards stood at the ready, one by the door and the other by a table he assumed he’d soon occupy. He did as she suggested and took a plate.  
“If you’re lucky they’ll let you outside for a bit,” she smiled, “go ahead and try the potato. Made it myself. Special recipe from my grandmother.”  
Taylor’s eyes scanned the food, not feeling overly hungry. Thinking of the night before was still making him sick to the stomach.  
“What’s your name?” the woman’s voice snapped him out of his daze again.  
Taylor hesitated again, debating whether or not to humour her. But he didn’t know how long he was going to be here and a fresh face to talk to once in a while would probably not go astray…  
“My name’s Jordan,” he relented.  
“As in Jordan Taylor?”  
She smiled again when his eyes worriedly met hers.  
“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” she gave him a wink before moving away, “I thought you looked familiar is all.”  
Taylor watched after her before gritting his teeth again. That was all he needed. It took one of the guards clearing her throat before he managed to pull himself together and finally take some food.


	19. 2020

“Is something wrong?” Charlotte asked, concerned.  
“Huh?” Ezra hadn’t been paying attention.  
She’d found him pacing out on the patio. The sun had gone down long ago, but both their body clocks were so out of sync they didn’t feel in the least bit tired.  
“You’re nervous,” she observed.  
“How could you tell?” Ezra smirked, turning away to continue his pace.  
“It took a while,” Charlotte mused, “what’s going on? Something happen with your Dad?”  
Ezra paused, looking out across the dark landscape.   
“No, but it’s about to,” he was definitely on edge.  
“What do you mean?” Charlotte frowned.  
“Don’t worry yourself,” Ezra insisted, facing her, “have Eden and Jorryn settled in for the night?”  
“Yes,” she nodded, “so I’m more worried about you right now.”  
He smirked.  
“Don’t be,” he shook his head, “if you start weighing yourself with the worries of the people in this place you’ll drown. It’s why we’re here.”  
Charlotte frowned as he turned away again.  
“So I’m just supposed to stay in the dark?”  
“Don’t. Worry,” Ezra insisted, “this is my problem, not yours.”  
“Everything okay out here?”  
They turned to see Jordan leaning in the doorway. Neither of them could tell how long he’d been there.  
“It’s fine,” Ezra responded curtly.  
Charlotte just stared at his father nervously for a moment. She felt she should say something, but her loyalty between the two was confusing to say the least. In the end she decided it simply wasn’t her place and remained silent.  
“Your grandmother’s due in,” Jordan said after an awkward moment of silence.  
“Why do you think I’m out here?” Ezra sighed, hugging his arms.  
“Not for your grandmother.”  
Charlotte gave him a frown before attempting to excuse herself back into the house.  
“So what if it isn’t?” Ezra shrugged, “it’s no longer any of your business. You made that very clear years ago.”  
Charlotte caught the dejected look on Jordan’s face as she finally slunk past.   
“I stand by what I said,” she heard Jordan’s voice over her shoulder, “but I’m glad she’s here.”  
“Whatever,” Ezra scoffed in return, “she’s not here for you. She’s here for me.”  
Charlotte bit her lip as she stepped away, deciding to go and check on her kids. She found them in a dark room toward the back of the building, along with the youngest boy and girl – Hans and Odette. She’d barely stepped into the room when a shadow made her jump and she suddenly realised Jordan had followed her. Uneasy at being alone in a dark room with him she quickly retraced her steps into the hall.  
“Sorry about that,” he apologised sincerely, “I don’t want you to think you’re in the middle of anything. Ezra and I haven’t seen eye to eye in some time.”  
“I get it,” Charlotte hugged herself as she avoided his gaze, “I never saw eye to eye with my mother.”


	20. 2020

“Your Mom?” Charlotte could see his frown in the low light.  
“She was…”  
Charlotte bit her lip, finding herself unable to say out loud what she wanted to. Seeing her hesitation Jordan indicated for her to follow him back down the hall.  
“It’s okay to miss her,” he said softly as they walked.  
“I shouldn’t,” Charlotte frowned, “we fought like cat and dog, and she was an absolute controlling _bitch_ for most of my life. She’s the reason I went into the program! But at the same time…”  
She shook her head, keeping her eyes down.  
“At the same time, I left her. And I was angry. And I don’t know, maybe she was just trying to help, but she was suspicious about Ezra and I didn’t want him to get caught. Especially not because of me.”  
Jordan seemed to process what she’d said before putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. Charlotte froze at the touch. The last time they’d had any contact had been at the detention centre.  
“Even if Ezra had been caught, it would not have been your fault,” he looked her in the eye, “he was there because he wanted to be. No one has control of his choices but him.”  
“I took him to Mom’s house, and I shouldn’t have,” Charlotte shrugged, “her neighbour called the cops. If I hadn’t have taken him there, maybe I wouldn’t have had to cut contact with her.”  
“I’m going to be blunt here,” Jordan’s eyes narrowed, “because I don’t know what kind of time we have. But it seems as if you made your choice the moment you pulled that key from your bag.”  
Charlotte stopped short in her tracks, Jordan’s hand falling from her shoulder as she did.  
“But it sounds like family is important to you,” he went on, “and while that’s exactly what we’re fighting for, you might need to decide if your own is more important. We will understand completely – I will understand completely – if that is what you decide.”  
“But how can I weigh my own against so many others?” Charlotte frowned, “it’s selfish.”  
“It’s not selfish when you’re considering your kids,” Jordan insisted, “and they’re what’s important.”  
Charlotte looked back down the hall toward where her kids slept.   
“Everything we do is for them,” Jordan intended to remind her, “this entire campaign was never about me. It’s not even about the other deserters. We’re fighting for our kids’ rights to lead what we used to consider a normal life.”  
“I don’t remember what that was,” Charlotte felt surprisingly embarrassed to admit.  
“Not many people your age do,” Jordan’s eyebrows rose, “you would have only been a teenager when we went to war, am I right?”  
Charlotte nodded.  
“That’s a problem. Younger generations are coming through not knowing any different way to live. We need to remind people of what America used to be, and can be again one day.”  
“And what’s that?” Charlotte was almost afraid to ask.  
“Free,” Jordan said determinedly as a shadow appeared at the end of the hall.  
They looked up to see Zoe, who looked unsure of what she’d just walked in on.  
“Mom’s here,” she informed Jordan before turning to leave again.  
Charlotte saw him wince a little.  
“Excuse me,” he gave her a nod before following Zoe away.  
Charlotte debated going after him, but decided to check on Eden and Jorryn as she’d originally intended.


	21. 2020

Taylor felt his hands shaking as he stepped into the living room. Jess and Joe sat on a couch to the right and Zoe had gone to the far doorway to check on the new arrivals. He stood in the centre of the room to wait, not sure who’d come through first.  
“You okay man?” came Joe’s voice.  
Taylor nodded. In truth he just wasn’t sure what to expect at this point.  
It wasn’t long before Natalie appeared in the doorway, stepping past Zoe as Zoe ducked out to give their mother a hug. Jess stood from the couch when she realised what had happened, and a moment later Diana came through the door.  
She stopped when her eyes fell on her son. They just as soon filled with tears.  
“Taylor,” she barely got out.  
He met her halfway, pulling her into his arms. She buried her head in his shoulder as she gave up on trying to stay composed.  
“Hey Mom,” Taylor whispered, closing his eyes as he hugged her tight.  
They stayed there until a noise from outside made Taylor jump, prompting his mother to pull back uneasily.  
“Are you okay?” she frowned, wiping her eyes before reaching up to rub his cheek with her thumb.  
“I’m fine,” he smiled assuredly, “I’m fine, Mom.”  
“What happened?”  
“Ezra found him in Chicago,” Natalie cut in.  
“Chicago?” Diana frowned, “why Chicago?”  
“They told me Houston was full, but Chicago was in need,” Taylor shrugged, “whether or not that’s true I don’t know.”  
“When we found them, Houston and Chicago had almost the same populace,” Natalie shook her head, “they knew who you were. They wanted you out of the spotlight.”  
“I couldn’t have been further from the spotlight from where I was,” Taylor assured, “I barely saw daylight.”  
“You do look unwell,” Diana put her hand back to his cheek.  
He flinched away before quickly quelling the reaction by taking her hand instead.  
“I’m fine, I insist,” he said, determined, “the fresh air is already doing wonders.”  
“He just needs some sun,” Jess mused, “you’re so pale you’re almost reflective.”  
“Thanks,” Taylor scorned.  
“She has a point,” Diana frowned.  
“Guys, calm down,” Taylor took a step back as he started to feel cornered, “I haven’t even been here forty-eight hours. Give it time!”  
“Chicago…” their mother was thinking, “did you see your father?”  
“Yes,” Taylor nodded.  
“We had to leave him behind,” Natalie didn’t sound regretful at all.  
“But he’s coming back,” Ezra’s voice came from the doorway.  
They all looked across to see him hand in hand with a slight brunette. His face was red and he avoided his father’s gaze, but her eyes were locked on Taylor.  
“I told Everett to send for him. He’ll be back in a few days.”  
“Thank you,” Diana gave her eldest grandson a nod.  
“Jenny,” Taylor nodded in greeting, “it’s good to see you.”


	22. 2020

“You too,” the brunette nodded, “welcome back.”  
“Hey Jen,” Jess quickly broke the tension by going to give her a hug, “how’d you guys go?”  
“Be nice,” Diana instantly turned on her ‘Mom voice’, giving Taylor a pat on the chest.  
“I plan to,” Taylor frowned, “I don’t know how things have changed. I’m the new guy here.”  
“And you remember it,” Diana insisted.  
Taylor held back a groan as she stepped aside, watching as Ezra waited patiently for Jenny to finish updating Jess on their progress in Salt Lake City. When he caught a break in conversation Ezra cleared his throat.  
“Sorry,” Jenny stepped aside and took Ezra’s hand again.  
“Dad?” he pulled her over to where he stood with Natalie and Diana, “I need to tell you something.”  
Taylor gave him an odd look, before looking to Natalie. She had a knowing look on her face – she knew what was coming. With an internal sigh he turned back.  
“What is it?” he tried to sound open.  
Ezra looked to Jenny, before lifting their clasped hands. Taylor’s eyebrows instantly rose.  
“We’re engaged,” Ezra announced.  
Taylor eyed the ring in the awkward silence that followed. In the end Ezra simply dropped their hands.  
“When did this happen?” Taylor didn’t give away anything in his voice.  
“Last year,” Natalie answered for them.  
“He hates it,” Jenny said under her breath.  
“No, I’m happy for you,” Taylor assured before Ezra could cut in, “congratulations. I’m sure you’ll be very happy together.”  
Another awkward moment of silence, as the room tried to judge the sincerity.  
“Thank you,” again Ezra was the one to break it.  
“So how do you plan to get married?”  
“Tay,” Natalie scorned.  
“No, it’s a legit question,” Ezra insisted.  
“I just mean with it being illegal and all,” Taylor shrugged, “you’d be hard pressed to find a minister willing to break the law for you.”  
“Well we were going to ask Uncle Zac, but he’s not here is he?”  
“Ezra!” Natalie’s voice rose as Taylor’s face went red, “you apologise to your father right now!”  
“He started it!”  
“I don’t care!”  
“Come on,” Ezra grunted, pulling on Jenny’s arm before practically dragging her from the room.  
Taylor watched after them before taking a deep breath.  
“Are you alright?” Natalie put a hand on his shoulder.  
He shrugged her off, gave both Jess and Diana a glance, and then disappeared down the hall. Natalie debated for a moment whether or not to follow him before deciding to leave him for now.


	23. 2020

Charlotte had heard the confrontation from the bedroom, and it had woken Hans. She stayed with him until he’d fallen asleep again but by the time that happened the crowd had seemed to disperse.  
By the time she emerged – gently closing the bedroom door behind her – Jess and Joe were the only ones left in the living room.  
“Hey Char,” Jess looked up, “everything alright?”  
“Yeah,” she wrung her hands awkwardly, “Hans woke up, but I got him back to sleep.”  
“Oh. Thanks,” Jess smiled appreciatively.  
“Are they okay?” Charlotte looked toward the front door.  
“Yeah sure,” Jess waved off, “they just have to blow off a little steam now and again. They’ll be fine.”  
“Especially with your Mom here now,” Joe pointed out, winding an ankle around Jessica’s.  
“Yeah,” she looked down to pick lint from his jeans.  
“Is Everett still up?”  
Charlotte jumped when Natalie appeared suddenly from the kitchen.  
“I haven’t seen him,” Jess shook her head.  
“Something wrong?” Joe frowned.  
“Maybe,” Natalie looked unsure, “we still haven’t heard from Avie.”  
“What was last contact?” Jess frowned too.  
“It’s been a few days,” Natalie replied.  
Jess gave Joe a glance before untangling herself and standing up.  
“I’ll get on it,” she assured, stepping past Natalie and heading toward where Everett sometimes disappeared.  
“Where’s Tay?” Joe asked before Natalie could follow.  
“Gone for a walk,” she replied without ever looking in Charlotte’s direction, “he just needs some time. He’ll be back later.”  
Joe nodded, and Natalie followed Jess. Charlotte started wringing her hands again as she desperately tried to think of a way to start conversation with Joe. She wanted to know about him – how he’d come to be here and not in a detention centre for a start – but the last thing she wanted to do was offend him. For the last five years, and even before that, her mother had drilled into her that men like him were dangerous.  
“How are you holding up?” he was first to break the silence, “this has to be pretty weird for you.”  
Charlotte nodded, trying to reconcile being caught off guard.  
“Weird is definitely a word for it,” she agreed, “I’m not sure how they can stand having us here.”  
“Well…” Joe shrugged, “no matter how it happened, I guess you’re family now. That’s something we all take seriously.”  
“I’m starting to get that,” Charlotte nodded, thinking of her earlier conversation with Jordan.  
Joe sighed and stood from the couch, brushing himself off.  
“Sounds like the girls will be a while, so I’ll bid you good night,” he nodded with a smile.  
“How are you here?” Charlotte blurted suddenly, “I mean… did you escape too?”  
Joe stopped in his tracks, taking a quick glance toward the door Jess and Natalie had gone through.  
“I was never caught,” he offered, quite openly, “when they came for Tay, Nat gave us a call to warn us. We came straight here.”  
“You haven’t left the ranch?” Charlotte frowned, “in all this time?”  
“Beats not seeing daylight,” Joe shrugged again before finally excusing himself.


	24. 2020

Taylor wasn’t ready to head back, but he knew it wasn’t safe to be too far from the compound. So he wandered around the edge of the orchard for a while before finding his way to the back garden and taking a seat on the stone steps down to the driveway.   
He’d barely had time to take a deep breath before he heard footsteps in the dirt behind him.  
“I guess I should know better than to think any time here would be alone time,” he said aloud.  
“Sorry,” he was a little surprised to hear Diana’s voice, “I can tell everyone to leave you alone if it’s what you want.”  
“No,” he quickly relented, “it’s okay.”  
He waited patiently as she stepped down, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders as she took a seat beside him. When she sighed herself, he turned his gaze upward.  
“There’s more stars than I remember,” he began almost sullenly, “I think I forgot how beautiful they were.”  
“There’s a lot less pollution now,” his mother nodded in agreement, “less people on the roads… a lot less factories in business.”  
“So I’m not just imagining it?”  
“No Taylor, you’re not,” she mused, gently putting a hand on his shoulder, “a lot has changed in a short amount of time. Even all the way out here.”  
Taylor shrugged away from her touch, feeling bad for it but at the same time not feeling worthy. Diana sensed the turmoil right away and decided to dive straight in.  
“I heard you’re still choosing to go by Jordan,” she said solemnly.  
“Yeah,” he frowned, starting to pick at his nails, “I’d appreciate it if everyone would stick to it.”  
“Why? That’s not what your father and I called you.”  
“Yes it is,” he shrugged, “I don’t see the difference.”  
“And yet there’s a difference to you. It’s also what you called Ezra.”  
Taylor grimaced a little as he leant his elbows on his knees. He had a number of things to say to that, but nothing he wanted to say in front of his mother.  
“What’s so wrong with Taylor?” she finally asked.  
“Taylor got Zac killed,” he blurted, “I can’t deal with that constant reminder, and I don’t know how anyone else can either. I deserve a hell of a lot more than what I got in detention for what happened to him.”  
“No one deserves what you had,” Diana insisted, “not even the lowest of paedophiles deserve what you had done to you.”  
“Then I deserve death so I can pay my penance on the other side,” Taylor wiped angrily at his eyes, “I couldn’t even take my own life in custody because I was too much of a coward.”  
“That wasn’t cowardice, that was hope.”  
“Hope?” Taylor looked incredulous, “what did I possibly have to hope for? Escape was unheard of.”  
“Salvation,” his mother leant in to loop her arm around his, and he didn’t pull back this time, “and perhaps God heard our prayers every night to bring you home safely, and he wouldn’t let you.”  
Taylor hesitated at that, before biting his lip. He moved his hand to cover hers and then curled in to rest his forehead on top.  
“I wish I could tell you what happened,” his voice croaked, “maybe then you’d understand.”  
“I don’t need to know,” she used her other hand to run her fingers gently through his hair, “but I’ll be damned if I’m losing another son to this war.”


	25. 2017

“Out,” came the order from the doorway once the door had barely opened.  
“Again?” Taylor pulled himself to his feet, “what for?”  
The guard hit her baton against the door frame impatiently. She wasn’t the usual guard who came in the mornings – this was the afternoon shift – so Taylor wasn’t sure of her motive. But rather than face the baton he knew she wouldn’t be averse to using, he stepped out through the door to a second waiting guard.   
He was led back down the corridor, this time closer to the entrance where he’d first been brought in. An attempt to ask the guards where he was going was met with dark looks and he kept his mouth closed the rest of the way. He was led to the right, further than he was sure the centre reached, before the guard in the lead swiped an ID card through an electronic lock. Once the door opened she stepped through and held it open for Taylor.  
He gave the second escort a glance before stepping through. What he saw in there were dark grey walls, a mirror, another far door… and a large steel frame bed complete with chains. By the time he realised where he was and turned to go back, the door had closed and locked behind him.  
“Wait!” he was already panicking, “I’m not ready for this! I wasn’t briefed or anything!”  
“I happen to know you were,” the second guard mused, and Taylor caught on to what she meant right away.  
She’d been the one to hold him down when he’d first been attacked.  
“That was it?” he asked nervously, “I get told to stay quiet and that’s _it_?”  
“You don’t touch them, you don’t talk to them,” the other guard stepped over to the bed and opened one of the cuffs, “you don’t intimidate them in any way. We want this over with as soon as you do, without any trouble.”  
“I highly doubt that,” Taylor shook his head.  
“Hurry up, we have a schedule to stay on,” she huffed, waiting for him to come to her.  
“This isn’t happening,” he insisted, “I don’t know what kind of protocol you think you’re following, but you can’t force me to sleep with random people who probably don’t want it to begin with!”  
“The entire program is voluntary,” the other guard scorned, “no one is here by force.”  
“Except me,” he hit back.  
“It’s not our problem you were born with balls on the outside,” she smirked.  
“Right now it _is_ your problem!”  
The guard at the bed sighed, pulling her baton from where it had been in her belt barely minutes. Taylor immediately backed off and headed for the other door. He found it locked and quickly ducked back as the other guard came for him.  
“I do remember you liked playing hard to get,” she mused, pulling her own baton and patting it into her palm, “let’s get this over with, shall we?”  
“You can’t force me,” Taylor shook his head, his eyes on them both as the second guard stepped around the other side to corner him, “and I swear I will fight you with every breath I have.”  
“We can, and will,” the first corrected, “and afterward we have every right to dish out whatever punishment we deem necessary for your misbehaviour.”  
Taylor’s brow furrowed at that, particularly when he saw the smirks on the women’s faces. They were enjoying this.  
Feeling his heart rate skyrocket and realising his only escape route was across the bed, he quickly judged their distance from him and lunged.


	26. 2017

“NO!”   
Taylor grabbed desperately for the other edge of the bed as both guards took hold of his ankles. Despite his loud and fruitless protests, they soon had one of the ankle cuffs locked in place.   
“We need to get his suit off,” one of them muttered as she held his right arm back and pushed his shoulder into the bed.  
He quickly tried to use his left hand to push himself back up as he pulled on the chain on his ankle, but her response was to twist his arm further back and hit him in the shoulder rendering it ‘dead’.  
“Keep going, I’ll break your wrist,” she warned, “you won’t need it.”  
“No don’t! Please!” he cringed.  
“Then do as you’re told!”  
“Roll him over.”  
The next thing Taylor felt was a blow from the baton on his left shoulder. He cried out from the sharp pain, at the same time struggling to get feeling back in his right arm.  
“Roll over, or the next one’s aimed at your head,” the guard insisted, setting the baton against his cheek in warning.  
Taylor took a few deep breaths before forcing himself to comply. As soon as he fell onto his back the guard was on the bed and using her knee to hold his upper arm down. He groaned under the strain as he felt a cuff go around his other ankle. That guard then moved up to help the other forcibly remove the top of his jumpsuit.  
He wanted to say something about how he hadn’t been naked when the guard had attacked him, but considering his position he didn’t think it wise. As soon as his left arm was clear of the suit, the guard locked a cuff around his wrist and pulled his arm back flat onto the bed to tighten the chain. The same was done to the other side, and now that he was locked down the women stood back.  
“One at a time,” the second guard indicated his ankles, which they’d have to unlock to undress him.  
Taylor locked eyes with her seeing her baton still at the ready. He wanted to test the chains but he wasn’t brave enough to do it while she remained standing over him, armed.  
Knowing already that it would be futile if it didn’t work, he didn’t make it hard for them to finish undressing him and it was over with quick. He watched with a shiver as they collected his clothes and made to leave the room.  
“You have an hour,” the first stopped to instruct, “remember the rules. You’ll be watched from the window, and the first sign of any trouble we’ll be right back here, do you understand?”  
Taylor hesitated, but nodded nervously. As soon as she was gone he began to pull on the chains.  
He didn’t have enough leeway to sit up, and they’d evidently pulled the chains tighter due to the last person in them being shorter. The cuffs were like those of the generally used handcuffs he’d been transferred with and he quickly deciphered that there was no way out.  
As a second wave of panic began to hit he pulled on his ankles. But they were similar cuffs and the chains were rather thick. The next thing to happen was the far door opening, and a woman in a white coat stepping through with a clipboard.  
“You know the drill well by now,” she mused to the rather plump brunette who followed her in, “just take care – he’s new.”  
“I know,” the woman smiled in return, “thanks Doc.”  
The doctor soon left her, closing the door. The brunette set her things down and began to undress.  
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Taylor barely breathed, already taking in her determined demeanour.


	27. 2017

It took a long time but she got what she came for. Taylor had done his best to deny her, but it obviously was not her first time and she’d been absolutely relentless. In the end he’d had to give in possibly within the first half hour, and as soon as she was done the woman dismounted the bed and went straight for her clothes.  
Taylor was left to catch his breath as she simply got dressed and collected her bag. A moment later and without a word she’d opened the door and disappeared through. Taylor groaned and closed his eyes as he began to feel out his injuries, not a moment before he heard the other door opening and the guards returning to the room. One of them came straight to his side, and he opened his eyes in time to see her reaching for his face.  
“He cried. You owe me twenty,” she smirked, wiping a thumb over his cheek before he could flinch away.  
“Damn it.”  
“Told you. The _faithful_ ones usually do.”  
Taylor frowned at the way she said ‘faithful’, as if it were some kind of childish endeavour. Now that his eyes were open again he saw the other guard heading for the chains on his ankles.  
“Let’s get this over with so we can get out of here,” she grunted as she went for the keys.  
“How do you people sleep at night?” Taylor asked in a raspy voice, looking between them with nothing but hurt in his eyes.  
“On a very comfortable duvet, in front of a log fire with a glass of red,” one instantly replied.  
“Oh that sounds good right about now.”  
“And I want to get back there as soon as possible so let’s move.”  
She took his ankle and pulled it aside once both were unlocked, the other guard having been working with his wrists at the same time. Once he was free he sat up to stretch his back and quickly realised there were still no clothes in the room.  
“Up,” one of the guards waved her baton, both armed again now that he was ‘free’.  
Taylor covered his eyes with his hand for a moment as he tried not to focus on his surroundings, before glancing over his shoulder at the second door and getting to his feet. The guard waved the baton toward the door he’d entered through, indicating for him to exit.  
“You’re kidding, right?” his brow furrowed, immediately covering himself and unable to stop the blush.  
“It’s nothing we haven’t all seen before,” the other guard smirked as she held the door.  
“Move!” the first frowned.  
Taylor flinched back as she raised the baton and quickly followed the first guard through the door. Instead of turning left to go back however, they turned to the right. The very next door led into a set of showers and he breathed a sigh of relief when he finally saw a pile of clothes ready for him.  
“Hurry up. You might even get back in time to get fed,” one of the guards stepped inside, the other staying out in the hall.  
Taylor nervously glanced between them, but decided he’d rather be back in the cell than stay here any longer with these two. So he quickly headed into one of the open cubicles and set the water going.  
Reaching out for the tap let him catch a first glimpse of the red ring around his wrist, and upon checking he found the same injury on his other wrist as well. Knowing it was going to bruise he already began to pray this wasn’t going to be something he’d have to do too often.


	28. 2020

Taylor and Diana sat outside for a good half hour in silence, until Taylor noticed his mother starting to yawn.  
“You should get some sleep,” he suggested softly, though he’d been grateful for her company.  
“I just want to spend some time with my son,” Diana reasoned, leaning in to him a little.  
Taylor smiled, though he blanched internally at her use of the singular word. He gave her a reassuring squeeze with the arm around her shoulders before kissing her temple.  
“It’s getting cold. We should head inside anyway.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“I’m sure. I’m good.”  
Diana sighed, shifted her shawl, and waited for Taylor to sit back so she could move. He was quick to be first to his feet and help her up.   
Inside the house appeared deserted. They could hear voices coming from the doorway to the left and gentle snores from the hall to the right.   
“You should get some sleep,” Taylor repeated, rubbing his mother’s back gently.  
She looked to the doorway in time to hear footsteps. Natalie appeared looking slightly cautious.  
“Something wrong honey?” Diana frowned.  
“Are you okay?” Natalie ignored the question and focused on Taylor.  
“I’m fine,” he attempted a smile, “where is everyone?”  
“Mostly in bed,” Natalie folded her arms, “Jess and I were just… getting some work done.”  
There was an awkward moment of silence as Natalie looked to the floor. Sensing her intent, Diana turned to Taylor.  
“I’ll make my way to bed,” she smiled with a wink.  
“Oh _now_ you’re going to do as you’re told?” his eyebrows rose.  
Diana pulled him in for another hug, and he saw Natalie smirking behind her. Diana gave her son a kiss on the cheek and finally pulled away.  
“Goodnight Natalie,” she nodded as she headed for the hall.  
“I’ll still be here in the morning,” Taylor said after her.  
“I know.”  
Once she was gone, Natalie finally stepped forward.  
“So how are you really?” she looked concerned.  
“That depends,” his eyes narrowed, “are you asking as my wife now?”  
“Yes,” she mused, looking him in the eye.  
He hesitated a moment, before looking away and sliding his hands into his jean pockets.  
“I don’t know,” he admitted, “I think being here is just screwing with my head a little. I mean I’ve never been here without…”  
He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.  
“Without Ike or Zac?” Natalie suggested.  
“Yeah,” he sighed, “it’s just something to get used to is all. Different company.”  
“What if you had something to focus on?” Natalie was looking cautious again, “would that help?”  
Taylor began to eye her suspiciously. He could tell she had something important to say but was trying to hold back.  
“What is it?” he asked straight out, “…what’s wrong?”  
“Avery’s been arrested. In Phoenix,” she came out with, “I think she’s in trouble.”


	29. 2020

“What happened?” Taylor demanded, stopping short as he entered the room where Jess sat at a computer.  
She turned to reply, but paused to wait as he took in the room. There were multiple computers set up – many screens showing surveillance of places he didn’t recognise, complete with night vision telling him they were live feeds. Multiple hard drives were strewn across the floor and there was barely room in there for the chair Jess sat on, a second beside it, and for him to stand inside the door. Natalie soon pushed past him to kneel up on the other chair.  
“What is this?” Taylor frowned.  
“This is Operation Liberty. Or the heart of it,” Natalie set her hands in her lap, “this is where we work from. Mostly.”  
“Usually this is Everett’s domain, but…” Jess shrugged, “something came up.”  
“Avie,” Taylor caught on, “what happened?”  
“Well… turns out she and her team were picked up two days ago during a protest,” Jess was pulling up some footage from a park, “I can’t get specifics on what she’s being charged with – Everett will have to do that – but they’ve kept her longer than twenty four hours which means…”  
“Which means she’s in trouble,” Natalie nodded.  
“Okay…” Taylor was trying to process, “first thing, how would Everett be able to get that? And second… what’s with the twenty four hour thing?”  
“Everett’s kind’ve our go-to guy for the computer now,” Jess mused.  
“Your nephew’s become a hacker,” Natalie relented at Taylor’s curious look.  
“Oh. Great,” his eyebrows rose, “because we don’t have enough fugitives under this roof already.”  
“He’s been very helpful,” Natalie insisted with a smile, “and you owe your freedom to him.”  
“The twenty four hour thing is something they brought in a couple of years ago. Sort of a new way to deter protestors, or ‘disturbers of the peace’ so they call it,” Jess finally brought up some CCTV footage of Avery in a park with her own megaphone, “they don’t have the room since the prisons were renovated so they try to keep the charges to a minimum. Unless we officially break the law in the public eye they tend to be lenient.”  
“We’ve been held plenty of times but never charged with anything officially,” Natalie frowned, “we need to find out what Avery’s done.”  
“I don’t have a good view from any of the cameras,” Jess winced, “but again, Everett might have better luck. Do you want me to wake him?”  
“No,” Natalie decided, “she’s not going anywhere and we have a patrol due tomorrow night. He needs to be ready for that.”  
“Copter patrol?” Taylor had been filled in on a few random details over the past day.  
“Yep.”  
“Are they on a strict schedule?” he frowned.  
“I think they have a set path they have to follow,” Jess shrugged, “they’ll be due just after sundown. I can just imagine her up there going down her checklist of towns or properties to cross off…”  
“Speaking of which,” Natalie stood from the chair and put a tentative hand on Taylor’s waist, “we should get some sleep so we’re ready.”  
“I’ll take first shift,” Jess offered.  
“Shift?” Taylor frowned between them, trying not to let on how Natalie’s touch unnerved him.  
“Come on,” she just smiled back, pulling him from the room.


	30. 2020

“You’re worried,” Natalie seemed half asleep.  
“Of course I’m worried,” Taylor agreed from where he lay on his back beside her, “I know what it’s like in there.”  
“I hardly think Avie’s headed for the same treatment as you were,” Natalie assured.  
“It doesn’t matter,” Taylor frowned, “the principle is the same. It’s a cell.”  
Natalie sighed a little, realising he was too worked up to sleep.  
“You need to try and relax,” her hand ventured over his chest, rubbing it gently, “you’re safe here. You know that right?”  
Taylor hesitated with no response, before moving his arm to take hold of her hand. He held it for a moment – his thumb gently caressing her wedding ring – before he looked across to her.  
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I can’t.”  
“Can’t what?” Natalie frowned, unsure of what he meant.  
“I can’t do… _it_ ,” Taylor said with regret, “and I know that’s not fair to you and you’ve probably been waiting a long time-“  
“Tay I’m not expecting anything of you,” Natalie insisted, pulling her hand back and leaning up on an elbow, “especially with what you’ve been through.”  
“Are you sure?” his brow furrowed, “because I don’t know how long this is going to last. I might never be able to… I might never ‘get over it’.”  
Natalie took a moment to look him over, taking in his worry. She slowly reached up to move some hair out of his face and left her hand cupping his jaw.  
“I don’t need it to love you,” she stared him in the eye with sincerity, “I never have.”  
Taylor closed his eyes at that and moved his hand to cover hers.  
“You’re amazing you know that?” he couldn’t help but smirk.  
“Don’t cheapen the moment,” Natalie mused before leaning in to kiss him.  
He returned it sincerely, glad they at least hadn’t taken that from him. Natalie only pulled back when he stopped to catch his breath.  
“I missed you like crazy,” she said softly.  
“I thought of you every single day,” Taylor’s eyebrows rose, tears brimming his eyes, “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”  
Natalie grunted and leant in to kiss him again. Taylor leaned up into her, almost sitting up in his effort. He pulled back when he realised she was crying.  
“Hey,” he chuckled awkwardly, “hey, it’s okay.”  
He slid his fingers through his hair and held his forehead to hers.  
“I’m here now.”  
“But for how long?” Natalie bit her lip, angry at her own tears, “and Ezra – what do we do about Ezra? He’s not the kid you left behind, he’s a grown man now.”  
“You didn’t bring me here to break down your walls,” Taylor said seriously, “if I’m stopping you from thinking clearly that’s not a good thing.”  
“No it’s not you,” Natalie insisted, moving aside so she could sit up properly, “it’s all me. I’ve been worried about him for a long time and now it’s coming up so fast and suddenly you’re home-“  
She stopped herself to take a deep breath and calm down. After a moment she smirked.  
“Sorry,” she apologised, “this is just a lot to happen at once, and we still have so much to work for.”  
“I get it,” Taylor assured, watching her curiously.


	31. 2020

“What?” Natalie frowned when she noticed.  
“Nothing,” Taylor was caught off guard and didn’t move, “I just… haven’t seen you this worked up in a long time.”  
“You haven’t seen me in a long time,” Natalie corrected, wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand, “we’ve all changed a lot around here.”  
“Meanwhile…” Taylor reached up to take her hand again and squeeze it gently, “I’ve felt like I was in a time warp. I mean, Hans and Odette are _seven years old_? It’s a lot to process.”  
Natalie chuckled softly.  
“Yes. And your son’s about to turn eighteen.”  
“Have you talked to him about it yet?” Taylor didn’t want to pressure her, but he was well aware of the looming deadline.  
“I have, but a long time ago,” Natalie nodded, “the agreement was that he stays here with Joe. But with everything that’s happened…”  
She shook her head.  
“I don’t know if he will.”  
“Do you want me to talk to him?” Taylor offered, “I could give him an idea of what the alternative will be if – or when – he gets caught.”  
“What would you tell him?” she looked unsure, “I don’t want him to-“  
“The idea is to scare him, right?” Taylor pointed out, “I’ve got plenty of true to life horror stories up here.”  
He tapped his temple with his other hand.  
“You need to tell me some of those,” she frowned.  
“Someday I will,” he promised, “just not now. I need some time.”  
“You don’t think it would be therapeutic? To get it out in the open?” she suggested.  
“Not in the slightest,” Taylor mused, “and frankly I feel like you’re beginning to expect me to give you some kind of intel that I’m not actually able to give.”  
“What do you mean?” Natalie frowned, sitting back a little.  
“You want me to help you bring the whole program down, right?” he guessed, “how much do you think the testimony of a single prisoner is going to weigh in? Not to mention the question of who’s going to trust my word in the first place.”  
“We have video,” Natalie insisted, “and we have audio. Charlotte recorded you talking about some of the conditions in the detention centre. We’ve already gone public with those.”  
“You what?” Taylor frowned, sitting up straight now.  
“Why do you think Holden was suspended?” she returned the look, “it’s only because we had proof that she was abusing her position.”  
“She wasn’t the only one,” Taylor assured.  
“We know that,” Natalie insisted, “but she was the one we could deal with now. We figured one was better than nothing.”  
“I appreciate the sentiment,” Taylor nodded, “but you realise it put me in danger, right?”  
“Hindsight is 20/20?” Natalie gave an awkward shrug, “what were we supposed to do, nothing?”  
“No, I wouldn’t expect you to do nothing,” Taylor assured, “I just think that if we’re going into battle… we’re going to need a much more focused and thought out game plan.”


	32. 2020

With a bit of work, Charlotte had managed to sleep for most of the night. Her body clock was still out, but so was Ezra’s, so at the odd hours they’d find themselves awake at least they weren’t alone. Charlotte briefly met Jenny but the girl didn’t seem interested in small talk. She seemed to want to hit the road again as soon as possible. A few times Ezra left her to sleep alone while he paced the quiet house and Charlotte would find him usually in the kitchen.  
Tonight she found him out on the front porch in the early hours drinking coffee.  
“Sure that’s the best idea?” she smirked, walking over to sit next to him.  
“If I’m awake I might as well be awake,” he mused, giving her a glance, “and I have to take over watch soon. How’d you sleep?”  
“It’s getting easier,” she shrugged, “I just keep waking at these odd hours. Can’t seem to find a rhythm.”  
Ezra seemed to blanch when she used the word, but covered it by taking another sip.  
“Did I miss anything?” she asked, oblivious.  
“One of my Aunts is in trouble,” Ezra admitted, “out in Phoenix. She got arrested during a protest.”  
“I thought the protests were legal?” Charlotte frowned.  
“They are, and Avie’s usually good at obeying the laws,” Ezra nodded, “until she punched a cop.”  
“She attacked a cop?” Charlotte’s brow rose, again wondering what she was getting herself into.  
“I don’t know, they must have got in an argument or something,” Ezra shrugged, going back to his coffee, “but if they’re going to charge her with assault it could bring us some problems.”  
“Doesn’t anyone here have a record already?” Charlotte thought back to every illegal activity she knew about so far.  
“Dad,” Ezra smirked, “we try and keep it clean. Keep a low profile. If no one cares about us the feds don’t snoop around as much.”  
“So why change your names?” Charlotte shrugged, “why do you and Natalie keep using John and Clara?”  
“There’s another reason for that,” Ezra frowned, “I don’t know if it matters now. It was to protect Dad.”  
Charlotte had to think about it for a moment before nodding.  
“You think they would have taken revenge on him?” she looked worried.  
“Most definitely,” Ezra nodded, “I think people guessed that we were related to someone inside, but only a few people would have known who. We weren’t very…”  
He paused, trying to think of how to say it.  
“People used to know who Dad was. A lot of people. From before. But they didn’t necessarily see us, so… we were lucky like that.”  
“What? Like…” Charlotte frowned, “famous or something?”  
Yet again she worried about what she was involved with. _Who was Eden and Jorryn’s father?_  
“Sort of,” Ezra mused, “he was once. His brothers too. But it kinda died out, and once the war happened… no one cared anymore.”  
Charlotte nodded, trying to think of more to ask about it. About him.  
“He doesn’t seem like the type,” was all she came up with.  
Ezra just smirked.   
“He’s exactly the type,” Ezra stood from his spot to stretch his back, “you’ll start to notice it the longer you spend around him.”


	33. 2020

“Hey.”  
Natalie stopped on her way to the kitchen when she saw the look on Jessica’s face. She was standing in the middle of the living area with a television remote in her hand.  
“What is it?” Natalie asked right away, rubbing her eyes and hoping she didn’t look as terrible on the outside as she felt on the inside.  
“You’ll want to see this,” Jessica nodded over her shoulder, “and Tay, too.”  
“He might be a while, it was a long night,” Natalie followed her sister-in-law from the room.  
Jessica led her down to an enclosed area on the back porch where they’d set up a television. Joe was there, along with a couple of the kids, and he looked just as worried as his wife had.  
“The news has gone National,” he said when he saw Natalie, “it’s reached Texas. They’re not naming him – yet – but they’re speculating our involvement.”  
“Let me see,” Natalie went to stand beside him so she could see the morning news broadcast.  
It was covering Taylor’s escape from the Chicago detention centre. It warned that there was a man on the run, most likely headed south, who was armed and dangerous. Natalie scoffed at the report but couldn’t hide the worry in her eyes.  
“It’s only a matter of time before they put two and two together,” Jessica said from behind her, worriedly, “they’ll know we’re involved.”  
“They don’t know where we are,” Natalie insisted, “we’re safe here.”  
“Guess we’re putting that to the test now more than ever, aren’t we?” Joe gave her a look.  
“We’ll be fine,” she scorned, indicating the kids sitting in front of them with emphasis, “as long as we keep Tay out of sight, and Ezra and I lay low for a while.”  
“A while,” Joe smirked, “the second you surface you’re going to be taken in for questioning on this.”  
“They don’t need to, they already have Avie,” Jessica walked away.  
“Where are you going?” Natalie looked over her shoulder.  
“I’m calling Dad. I want to know where he is, and make sure he’s okay.”  
“Are you worried about Avie talking?” Joe demanded her attention again.  
“No,” Natalie scoffed again, “she knows as well as anyone what’s at stake.”  
“If the media’s implicating you…” Joe was wary, “are you going to issue a statement?”  
“While I was in Chicago I had an FBI tail,” Natalie lowered her voice, “if I make a statement they’re going to zero in on us. I’d have to leave the state.”  
“But you might be picked up,” Joe realised.  
“Right now the important thing is to keep Taylor safe,” Natalie lay down the law, “he’s the key to this whole thing. If that means Avery’s on her own, then so be it. She made her bed.”  
She turned to leave with Joe watching after her. He knew no one was going to be happy with that, least of all Taylor. He sighed and kept an eye on the broadcast in case they missed anything, but they weren’t saying much more just yet.


	34. 2020

Taylor must have jumped six inches when her hand gently touched his shoulder. When he looked over and saw that it was Nikki, he looked back down at the old worn piano and flinched backward.  
“I’m sorry,” he apologised awkwardly, keeping his eyes down, “I wasn’t thinking.”  
“It’s okay,” Nikki assured, but she wasn’t smiling.  
“It just felt so natural to wake up and come out here and…” he shook his head as he hurriedly began to defend himself, “I guess I just… didn’t think. I’m sorry.”  
“It’s okay,” Nikki repeated herself, swinging her leg around the bench seat so that she could sit down beside him.  
He reactively backed away a little but consciously knew she wouldn’t have sat down at all if she’d wanted him to. He kept his eyes down and his hands in his lap hoping this wasn’t going to turn into an argument.  
“Taylor, I don’t blame you.”  
He kept his eyes down, unsure of how to respond to that.  
“ _We_ don’t blame you. We know there’s nothing you could have done.”  
“I could have been there,” he shook his head again, staring at the ivory.  
“And changed what, exactly?” Nikki demanded, her voice raising slightly, “did you know ahead of time where they were going to attack?”  
Taylor hesitated but shook his head.  
“Then what would you have done? Beared witness. That’s all. Nothing changes what happened. Nothing _can_ change what happened, and not one of us faults you for it.”  
Taylor’s eyes fell to his hands and he started picking at his nails.  
“At least no one here does,” Nikki quickly amended, “and yes, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t envy Natalie. But we’ve had time to work through that. A lot has changed since you’ve been gone.”  
“I’m getting that,” his voice was soft enough to almost be a whisper.  
“Look at me Taylor.”  
Taylor winced a little, but forced himself to look her in the eye.   
“I know what happened between you and Kate made you wary of me,” she said sternly, “but you have nothing to worry about from my end. You’re still my brother, and you meant the world to both of us. You still mean it to me, and to the kids.”  
“You’re saying you forgive me?” Taylor’s brow furrowed.  
“I’m saying there’s nothing to forgive,” Nikki corrected.  
Taylor looked down at the piano again, trying to process what she was saying. The amount of guilt he harboured over his brothers’ deaths was staggering and he felt as though he couldn’t alleviate any of it without making it just feel worse. No matter what anyone said to him.  
“You know, sometimes I’d wake up and come outside…” he nostalgically trailed his fingers down the edge of the keys, “and Isaac would be sitting right where you are, playing this piano. Usually he wouldn’t even realise I was there.”  
“Like you just were,” Nikki mused.  
“Yeah, I guess,” Taylor frowned, “I used to just watch him for ages. He did a lot of his best work that way.”  
“I know,” she smiled at a memory, “you all did.”  
Taylor’s face fell again and he dropped his hand, before being distracted by the sound of laughter in the distance.


	35. 2020

“I bet that was a shock,” Nikki looked over her shoulder when she realised.  
“What was?” Taylor asked absently.  
“Those two, getting engaged.”  
Ezra had chased Jenny out onto the lawn, grabbing her by the waist and spinning her around. Her laughter sounded alien in the otherwise silence of the morning.   
“Not really,” Taylor admitted as he stared, “I guess I just kinda hoped…”  
“She’s been a big help around here,” Nikki assured, looking back to study his expression, “it’s been good having some people outside the family that we could talk to. Get outside opinions from.”  
“I don’t doubt it,” Taylor’s stare didn’t waver, “but for how much longer?”  
“Taylor if you don’t trust her-“  
“It’s Jordan,” he snapped, before immediately furrowing his brow.  
“I’m sorry,” he quickly sat back, before his nerves took over and he got to his feet.  
“I hit a nerve,” Nikki’s eyebrows rose.  
Taylor turned back and covered his mouth worriedly. His left hand went to his hip as he looked back over the lawn. Ezra had spotted him and the laughter had died down, but he hadn’t clued Jenny in.  
“I had a lot of time to think,” he admitted, finally folding his arms, “and I spent a long time in detention going over and over what happened.”  
“What happened?” Nikki frowned.  
“The night they came for me.”  
He paused and took a deep breath.  
“We always knew it was a possibility,” Nikki shrugged, “I mean they had records…”  
“No that’s not it,” Taylor shook his head, “it was too long after the initial raids. They would have come for me months earlier if I’d been in the system. Same goes for Joe.”  
“So what? What are you saying?”  
“I’m saying that someone tipped them off,” he locked eyes with her, “and I admit initially I thought it was Kate. I just thought she’d be the one person who’d definitely want me gone. But then I got to thinking about it, and she wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t do that to Natalie and the kids. No matter how angry she was.”  
“Are you saying you think Jenny’s responsible?” Nikki suddenly looked wary, “why would Jenny want to hurt Ezra so much?”  
“Because I was the only thing standing between the two of them,” Taylor insisted, “with me out of the way, she could have him all to herself.”  
“Taylor- sorry, Jordan,” Nikki corrected herself, though she felt silly doing it, “they were barely teenagers back then. She would have been what, fourteen?”  
“What, you never went through a rebellious teenager phase?” Taylor pointed out.  
“But _this_ …?”  
“I just know that it doesn’t add up,” he tried not to get worked up about it, “and she’s the one part of the puzzle that doesn’t fit. Maybe I have tunnel vision because I haven’t liked her from the start, but like I said… I had a lot of time to think it over. Nothing else made sense.”  
“But what will you do?” Nikki was cautious, “if it turns out to be true?”  
Taylor chewed his bottom lip as he thought it over.  
“I don’t know,” he finally admitted, “just… do me a favour-“  
“I won’t say anything,” Nikki assured, “you have my word.”


	36. 2020

“Where was that music coming from?”  
Charlotte groggily made her way into the kitchen, hoping to quickly have some breakfast and to go back to bed. She found Zoe in her usual place at the stove, this time with her mother by her side.  
“Out back,” Zoe lacked her usual perk as she indicated with her head, “there’s a piano in one of the walkways out there.”  
“Oh,” Charlotte hugged herself.  
It wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but she wasn’t going to press them this morning. The air was far too tense.  
Hoping it was just the news about Avery and wasn’t anything to do with her, she left the kitchen to seek out Eden. The toddler had made quick friends with her redheaded eight-year-old half-sister and the two often disappeared. Jorryn on the other hand had caught the attention of one of his half-brothers and his two youngest cousins.  
She was still having trouble with all the names. It was hard enough getting the adults right.  
She was about to enter the hallway when Jessica suddenly appeared and accidentally bumped into her shoulder.  
“Oh my- I’m so sorry!” she quickly apologised, “good morning Char!”  
“Good morning,” Charlotte mused, rubbing her arm where it hurt.  
“Have you had breakfast yet?”  
“It’s not ready,” she shrugged, looking back toward the kitchen, “I was actually looking for… Hans?”  
“He’s outside with Odette, Viggo and Jorryn,” Jessica offered, “have you seen Everett? He’s not in the console.”  
“Umm… no, sorry,” Charlotte bit her lip.  
“That’s okay,” Jessica shrugged before continuing on her way.  
Charlotte pulled a face once she was gone. She’d been on edge as well. She hoped whatever was happening would be over soon, she was anxious enough on her own as it was. These people had been living here for years already and she’d completely ditched her former life barely a couple of days ago. If this was any indication of what kind of stresses daily life had on the ranch, she already began to wonder if it had been such a good idea.  
But how could she possibly go back now? They had to know she was involved with Jordan’s escape. She could be arrested, detained, lose her benefits… maybe even lose her kids.  
She couldn’t let that happen, above anything else.  
She’d been thinking over Jordan’s words ever since their talk, about how the kids would always come first. She didn’t like the idea of blindly trusting him – especially after the way Ezra was speaking about him - but she couldn’t deny that what he’d said had held weight.   
Leaning back against the hallway wall, she folded her arms and sighed. This had all happened so fast. She felt as though she had a lot of big decisions to make, but at the same time she felt trapped. Where could she possibly go, and what could she possibly do, now that she’d given it all up for this man? This _stranger_?  
Suddenly she found herself hating the system all the more.


	37. 2020

“Where have you been?!” Jessica demanded.  
“Outside,” Everett shrugged as if he were used to it before taking a seat, “Mom keeps saying I have to go outside at least once an hour.”  
“Did you see the news?” she frowned.  
“I saw it before anyone else did,” he huffed, clicking away on the computer again.  
“You didn’t think that was important?!”  
“I told Mon to tell someone!” Everett defended, “stop yelling at me!”  
Jessica took a deep breath and closed her eyes, knowing she was in the wrong. Putting a hand to her forehead she took the moment to compose herself as Everett carried on working.  
“I tried calling your grandfather a few minutes ago,” she began softly, “I couldn’t reach him.”  
“Want me to look him up?”  
“Yes thank you,” she kept her eyes to the screens.  
Everett left the news broadcast playing on a loop in the background, the only other sound in the room his typing as he traced Walker’s cell phone.   
“Where is Mon?” Jessica frowned after a while.  
“I don’t know. I told him to tell about the news and he left.”  
“That’s odd,” her expression didn’t change, having found Monroe to be one of the more reliable among them.  
“Okay I found him,” Everett caught her attention again, “the towers last pinged him coming through Odessa, so he’s still on the move. He should only be a couple hours.”  
“So he’s coming up through Van Horn,” Jessica traced the lines on the screen, “why would he go there when he has to trace the border so far?”  
Everett shrugged.  
“Maybe he didn’t want to come through Carisbad for another reason?” he suggested, “wasn’t there trouble at the Mountains last time?”  
“Yeah but Tay got through fine,” Jessica was confused, “doesn’t matter. Can you just keep an eye on him until he gets here?”  
“I’ll keep the system running,” Everett agreed.  
“Thanks,” Jessica massaged his shoulders appreciatively before leaving the room.  
Everett just rolled his eyes and got back to work.  
As Jessica headed back toward the kitchen, she met Joe in one of the living areas.  
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, catching her arm.  
“Have you seen Monroe?” she diverted.  
“Not this morning,” he replied after stopping to think, “why? Is there a problem?”  
“I don’t know, it’s just not like him,” Jessica folded her arms, “he was supposed to warn us about the news coverage.”  
“That’s definitely not like him,” Joe looked back toward the kitchen, “tell you what. You go, have something to eat, and I’ll have a look around for him okay?”  
Jessica nodded before he took off toward the back door. She watched after him before dismally heading for the dining area.


	38. 2020

Joe had barely set foot onto the patio before seeing someone off in the distance running back toward the house. He quickly jogged to the end before jumping down onto the ground.  
It was Monroe, and he was yelling.  
“What is it?” Nikki asked from behind him, making Joe jump.  
She and Taylor were still at the piano. He hadn’t even seen them.  
“I don’t know,” he admitted, taking off at a jog to meet him.  
“Joe!” he could hear him call from the distance.  
“Hey!” he called back, picking up speed, “what’s wrong?!”  
Monroe ran into Joe’s arms, taking a second to right himself before pointing back over the landscape.  
“Copters!” he exclaimed breathlessly.  
Joe’s eyes darted to the skyline. If he concentrated, he could just barely hear the rotors.  
“Come on,” he quickly pulled him back and they took off at a run.  
Nikki had moved to the end of the porch, a feeling of dread in her gut. Joe was still a way out when she could hear his shouts.  
Without waiting she ran for the house.  
“What’s going on?!” Taylor called out, giving up on her for a reply and jumping down to meet Joe instead.  
“Tay come on!” Joe hit the yard and indicated for Taylor to follow him to the left.  
“What’s going on?!” he repeated, watching as Monroe ran past him.  
“Copter patrol!” Joe responded before he could hear Nikki screaming inside, “come on!”  
“What do we do?!” Taylor frowned, nervously following.  
He followed Joe to the side of the house where he pulled a tarpaulin aside to reveal the cellar doors. They’d been well hidden under dust and dirt.  
“What about everyone else?” Taylor’s heart rate rose as the rotors got louder.  
“They’ll come, don’t worry!” Joe insisted, pulling the doors apart and starting down the steps.  
Taylor looked over his shoulder to where he could now see the helicopter in the distance.   
“Tay?!”


	39. 2020

“Everyone out!” Natalie ordered.  
“They’re too early! What are they even doing here?!” Zoe panicked as she collected her sweater and quickly helped wrangle the kids.  
“It’s probably something to do with the news,” Jessica locked eyes with Natalie.  
Natalie didn’t respond, just looked to Nikki.  
“Where’s Tay?” she asked.  
“He’s outside with Joe, they should be safe,” she assured, “just get everyone down there.”  
“What do you want me to do?” Ezra appeared in front of her, Jenny at his side.  
“Go,” she put a hand on his shoulder, “Nikki’s got this.”  
Ezra made it halfway across the room before he stopped in his tracks.  
“Charlotte,” he realised under his breath.  
Monroe meanwhile had run back to his brother.  
“Everett! Copters!”  
“What?” he frowned, quickly opening a radar, “but they’re not supposed to patrol until tonight!”  
“I know what I saw,” his little brother leant on the back of his chair to catch his breath, “Uncle Joe saw it too.”  
Everett clicked away for a moment before biting his lip.  
“Maybe it’s cos of Uncle Tay?” he worriedly suggested.  
“Maybe,” Monroe agreed, “everyone’s getting to the bunker. We should be okay.”  
“As long as they get there fast,” Everett pursed his lips as he watched the dot get closer, “I have thirty seconds before I have to shut down. Where’s Mom?”  
“Helping,” Monroe replied before disappearing down the hall.  
He passed Ezra and Jenny on their way toward the bedrooms.   
“CHAR?!” Ezra was yelling, hoping to wake her before he got to the room.  
He found her sitting up in bed, with no sign of Eden or Jorryn.  
“Go find the kids,” he nodded to Jenny, who disappeared again.  
“What is it?” Charlotte rubbed at her eyes.  
“Early copter patrol,” Ezra raced to say, “we need to go. Get out of bed, quick!”  
“Go where?” Charlotte didn’t hesitate to throw the covers off and quickly slip on some shoes.  
“The bunker.”  
He waited for her to get her bearings and then hurriedly escorted her back down the hall. By the time they made it outside they could both see the helicopter clearly in the distance, but most people had already made it down into the cellar.  
“Hurry!” Natalie called when she spotted them, waiting at the doors for the stragglers.  
Ezra made sure Charlotte was down – where she found her kids with the others already – before pausing to wait for Jenny. Natalie gave him a slap on the arm and ordered him down, insisting she’d wait. Ezra was barely halfway down the ladder before Jenny joined them, and she and Natalie followed with Natalie pulling the doors closed.  
“Did we make it?” she heard Zoe’s voice as she paused at the steps to listen.  
“I think so,” Natalie replied, unable to hear the helicopter just yet.  
She continued climbing down, having a quick look for Taylor. He was standing in the middle of the small room with his eyes to the ceiling apprehensively.


	40. 2020

“Where’s Everett?” Charlotte suddenly realised he was missing, “did you find him?”  
She looked to Jessica, who was sitting on the bench beside her.  
“He’s okay,” she offered a smile, “he and his brother stay above ground, with Mom and Nikki and… usually Dad. They need to see some people here.”  
“’See’?” Charlotte frowned.  
“Heat seekers,” a boy on her other side offered, “they see our body heat so we come underground.”  
“Which is why they usually come at night,” Jessica agreed.  
“It’s probably early enough in the morning that the land is cold enough to be different,” the boy looked toward Jordan, and Charlotte suddenly remembered that he was one of his.  
She’d seen them hug when he’d first arrived, but she couldn’t remember his name.  
“It must be,” Jessica agreed somewhat nervously, “unless they’re looking for something else.”  
“Our car?” Charlotte suggested.  
“They won’t find it,” the boy insisted, “not from the air.”  
“Are you okay?” Charlotte looked up when Ezra appeared in front of her, another worried expression accompanying him.  
“Yeah I’m fine,” she assured, having calmed down since recognising that her kids were safe there too, “what do we do now?”  
“We wait until we get the all clear from upstairs,” Ezra replied, “then we should be okay to-“  
“-To get back to breakfast,” his brother nodded.  
“They could be after your Dad and all you care about is your stomach?” Jessica leant forward so he was in view.  
“If I don’t, who else will? And we know they’re after him, we’re not stupid,” he scorned.  
“Have you been working on the cars?” Ezra asked him, attempting to change subject.  
He didn’t know how long they’d be down there after all.  
“Why? Did you want something?”  
“If we’re going to get Char’s car back on the road, we’ll need to change the way it looks.”  
“Or we could just get Everett to hack the DMV,” his brother shrugged.  
“That’s not always going to be an answer,” Jessica cut in.  
“Why not? It’s not as if they’re any less dependent on technology than they were before. It’s the people that aren’t.”  
“It’ll need new plates at least,” Ezra folded his arms.  
“Uh… I could switch with Gramps’ when he gets back? Is he going out again?”  
“No one’s going anywhere for a while,” they looked up as Natalie announced, “we need to regroup and work out a new strategy. We’ll need at least a week.”  
“We can’t just stop the protests,” Jenny insisted, “what about everyone else?!”  
“At least until we know what’s going on with Avery,” Natalie wasn’t having it, “I’m not sending anyone else out until we know for sure she wasn’t targeted on purpose.”  
“You think the cops are lying about what she did?” Ezra frowned.  
“I don’t know yet, but I’m not ruling it out,” Natalie insisted before going back to Taylor’s side.  
“Shit.”  
“River, language,” Jessica scorned.  
“It’s okay,” Charlotte assured, trying to commit the name to memory already.  
“No, it isn’t,” Jessica corrected, indicating the children sitting nearby.


	41. 2018

Taylor grimaced as the strap was tightened around his upper arm and he flexed his fist as it quickly began to feel numb.  
“Halfway there already,” the nurse assured.  
Taylor took a deep breath and let it go, eyeing the guard in order to avoid seeing the needle.  
“Why do I have to do this again?” he asked, “I’m not sick anymore.”  
“Standard procedure every three months at a minimum,” the nurse answered for her.  
“You’re not scared, are you?” the guard taunted, a hand resting on the baton in her belt.  
“Of course not,” he frowned.  
“Good.”  
He took another deep breath, closing his eyes as he felt the needle go in. The test was over quick and the nurse set his blood aside before unstrapping the arm and taping over the wound.   
“Right. When your results get back you’ll come for a full physical, and if that’s all clear you can get straight back to work,” the nurse offered a smile as the guard came forward to collect him.  
Taylor wished he’d get sick again. He wasn’t sure what the girl had given him - perhaps some kind of gastro - but aside from them actually being worried about him for once it had given him a welcome reprieve. He’d spent five days in the infirmary (after two excruciating days in his cell while being ignored). The infirmary had almost been a holiday.  
Another plus was, the guards hadn’t even wanted to touch him as a result.  
This one cleared the ankle shackles from the chair before securing his wrists once again to the chain belt looping through the jumpsuit. Once he was locked in she pulled out her radio.  
“Request secure passage for prisoner fourteen back to his cell,” she said into it while he waited.  
“Uh… that’s a negative,” came the reply, “eight is moving back from the visitor lounge.”  
Taylor flinched.  
“Roger that. We’re on standby.”  
“Visitor lounge?” he flinched.  
“The other inmates’ business is none of yours,” the guard’s voice was tinged with warning.  
“Are the guys seriously getting visitors?” he leant forward, “if they have people coming here, why can’t I even get a phone call?!”  
“Because prisoner eight is not a deserter,” the guard stared him down, “he’s a convict.”  
“What?!” Taylor couldn’t believe his ears, “you’re saying convicted felons have more rights than we do? For being _loyal_?”  
“For being loyal to the wrong people,” the guard corrected, “now doesn’t that sound familiar? Pretty sure there’s a street gang member here who’d know just how you feel right now.”  
Taylor was speechless. In the silence that followed, another call came through the radio to say that the coast was clear. The guard pulled him to his feet but he otherwise wouldn’t move.  
“What do I have to do to get a phone call?” he was serious, “just five minutes, I swear.”  
The guard smirked and forced him out of the door to where his second guard was waiting.   
“I will do anything!” he insisted as they moved him down the hall, “what do you want? Name it!”  
“What did you do?” the second guard smirked to the first.  
“Nothing. He heard the radio and now he wants a booty call.”  
“I want to speak to my wife,” Taylor felt the need to correct.  
“That’s not happening,” the second guard laughed.  
“Why not?!” Taylor almost tripped on his chains in desperation, “I just want to _talk_ to her!”


	42. 2020

“Taylor? _Taylor!_ ”  
He blanched and took a step backward. Natalie was in his face.  
“Keep it together,” she stared him down, “this will be over soon. We’ll be okay.”  
Taylor looked up to the door, the sound of the helicopter now apparent overhead.  
“I don’t want to go back,” the words barely made it out.  
He flinched again when Natalie took hold of his face.  
“Look at me,” she insisted, forcing him to make eye contact, “you are not going back. Listen to the facts. The helicopters use heat seeking technology. We are underground, under a cool metal plate that was installed soon after we got here. There are four people left above ground who will warn us in plenty of time if anything goes wrong. You have absolutely _nothing_ to fear here. Do you understand?”  
Taylor could feel his heart racing. All he could think about were the days – months – he’d spent on the floor with it aching in desperation to just even see Natalie’s face. Having her in front of him now didn’t seem real. He even wondered if this was some sort of elaborate hoax or hallucination.  
Natalie slapped him. He flinched at the hit but otherwise didn’t react.   
“WAKE UP!” she scorned.  
“Hey! Hey,” Joe appeared from behind them, taking Taylor’s arm.  
Taylor looked between the two of them, suddenly blinking rapidly. A hand went to his face where Natalie had hit him.  
“Are you good?” Joe checked.  
“Yeah,” Taylor nodded, shaky but back in the real world.  
He tried to ignore the sound of the helicopter, despite it beginning to die out already.  
“What happened?” Joe frowned.  
“I don’t know,” Taylor shrugged, “I just got scared.”  
Joe gave Natalie a worried glance before putting an arm around his brother-in-law. Taylor began to breathe a little easier knowing he was there. Just having a male presence was doing him wonders.  
“We’ll be out before you know it,” Joe assured, “just hang in there.”  
Taylor knew it wouldn’t do any good for his kids to see him like this and so closed his eyes to take a deep breath. While they were shut he felt Natalie take his hand, and by the time he opened them again she was smiling back at him.  
“They’re gone,” she said softly, “now we just wait for clearance.”  
“Clearance?” he tried to stay focused.  
“One of the kids will come and tell us when to come out,” Joe offered.  
“Kids?” Taylor frowned before looking to Natalie, “you left _kids_ up there?”  
“Calm down, it’s our cover,” she put a hand on his chest, “legally it’s just Nikki and the boys staying at the ranch now, with your parents as caretakers. It would be more suspicious if they saw a car or a kitchen with some warmth if there was no one around to use them.”  
Taylor’s nostrils flared but he nodded.  
“I get it,” he assured, “but I still think it’s too dangerous. Everett’s not far from age.”  
“Tay he’s thirteen,” Natalie scorned as they finally heard a noise from above, “we have five years yet. Let’s worry about you for now.”  
They looked up as sunlight suddenly pierced the bunker again, illuminating Monroe’s face.  
“Gonna stay down there all day?!” he called down.


	43. 2020

“They went down the border,” Everett explained, pointing to the radar, “by the time I rebooted they were pretty far gone. I don’t think they would have seen Gramps.”  
“Do you know where they came from?” Natalie asked, leaning over his chair.  
“West,” he replied, “San Diego-ish.”  
“Diego’s too close to LA, it’s a dead zone,” Natalie shook her head, “they must have come from Phoenix.”  
“I said ‘ish’.”  
“You think the border patrols are starting from Yuma?” Jessica gave her sister-in-law a glance.  
“It would make sense. From there they can go all the way through to Matamoros without a problem. I’d say their bases are Phoenix and Corpus Christi.”  
“So if it came from Phoenix…” Jessica bit her lip, “what if it has something to do with Avery?”  
“Everett can you get into the Phoenix PD?”  
“Sure,” he shrugged, opening a new window, “what am I looking for?”  
“Whatever they have on your Aunt,” Natalie insisted, “files, surveillance, a location, anything. I want to know where she is, what she’s doing, and what they’re doing. I want to know what evidence they have on her besides someone’s word. Put through her real name and all known aliases.”  
“There was nothing on the news, or we would have seen it,” Jessica added.  
“If they know she’s one of us they would have kept it quiet,” Natalie agreed, “especially with us leaving Chicago so soon.”  
“So _now_ you’re worried about her?” Joe’s voice came from the doorway.  
“Don’t start,” Natalie scorned, “of course I’m worried about her. But I’m more worried about us right now.”  
“Why?” Jessica asked as Everett looked up worriedly.  
“Because if this flyover did have anything to do with Avery, it’s only the start of something more. We might need to either relocate or look at spending a lot more time in the bunker.”  
Everett groaned at that.  
“Should we do a supply run just in case?” Joe suggested.  
“And pack up?” Jessica added.  
“Do we have enough cars for an evacuation?” Natalie looked between them.  
“We will when Walker gets back,” Joe looked thoughtful, “we have Charlotte’s, ours and Nikki’s. If River can get yours going…”  
“Get River started,” Natalie insisted.  
“I’ll go find him,” Joe promised, “but I came to get you. There’s something up with Tay.”  
Natalie bit her lip, looking back at Everett’s screen.  
“I’ll stay,” Jessica insisted, “you two go.”  
“Where is he?” Natalie sighed as she took a step back.  
“Outside, watching for ‘copters,” Joe nodded, looking back to Jessica.  
At her nod, he followed Natalie out.


	44. 2020

“Hey Riv’?”  
“Yeah!” came a reply from under the car.  
Joe could only see him from the calves down.  
“Are you almost done?”  
“That depends.”  
“Depends on what?”  
“On what you want! I can be here all day.”  
Joe looked over his shoulder back toward the house. The garage wasn’t large, but it was enough to hide two of their cars. He was currently under Natalie’s, which hadn’t been working for some time.  
“How long until you get this thing up and running again?”  
There was a pause before River pushed the skateboard – and himself atop it – out from under the car.  
“Why?” he looked suspicious.  
“In case we need to evacuate,” Joe was solemn.  
“Why?!” River’s expression turned to one of worry, “because the patrol was early?!”  
“Don’t worry about that,” Joe insisted, “just… can you get the car going? Or should we try and get something else?”  
“Depends on how soon you want it, it’s not like I have a heap of spare parts around to use,” River shrugged, “maybe if I had help…”  
“I could help,” Joe offered.  
“But you don’t know much about cars,” River’s eyes narrowed.  
“No one does, so I’m the best you’ve got,” Joe smirked, “what do you need?”  
“A new car,” River smirked in return before pausing awkwardly, “…what about Dad?”  
“I’m not sure we can rely on your Dad for anything for a while,” Joe was cautious.  
“Could never rely on him for anything to do with cars anyway,” River muttered, before sliding himself back under.  
Joe heard him get back to work and waited idly for a while. All the kids seemed to be reacting somewhat differently to Taylor’s return. River’s answer had been to suddenly spend a lot more time in the garage.   
“Have you talked to him?”  
“Nope,” River’s reply was a little too quick.  
“Why not?”  
“I’m _busy_ , Joe. Either help or go away.”  
Joe sighed to himself and moved around the car to where he saw the tools laid out. He crouched nearby so he could just see River’s arm moving.  
“What do you need?” he offered.


	45. 2020

Taylor was rubbing his palms together and pacing between pecan trees when Natalie found him. At first he didn’t seem to realise she was there, but he didn’t look surprised when they fleetingly made eye contact.  
“What’s wrong?” she asked, not sure what else to say.  
“What’s wrong?” he repeated before breaking into a chuckle, “what’s wrong…”  
He covered his nose and mouth with his hands as he continued to pace. Natalie edged closer, aiming for one of the trees he was moving between.  
“I’m not sure you should be out here,” she was cautious, taking in his tense demeanour.  
“I can’t go back,” Taylor shook his head insistently.  
“Back where?” Natalie coaxed, “the house? Or somewhere else?”  
Taylor kept his eyes down but continued pacing. His mind was racing so fast that Natalie’s words confused him. He wasn’t used to his mind racing. He’d been a mindless zombie for far too long.  
“Tay you can’t stay out here-“  
“It’s _Jordan_!”  
Taylor stopped and put his hands to his head, taking a firm hold of his hair. He didn’t want to yell at her. He didn’t know what he was doing.  
“I’m sorry,” he didn’t look in her direction, “I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I just… I just don’t know and it’s driving me crazy.”  
Natalie took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure what to do to help him. While she’d been trying to bury herself in her work as her own consolation, she really had no idea what he was going through and therefore couldn’t counter it.  
“Maybe if you come back inside?” she suggested, “we could just take a time out, and…”  
“I think I just need to be alone,” Taylor admitted, albeit reluctantly, “there’s too much going on in there and I just need to get my head right.”  
“Do you _want_ to be alone?” Natalie’s brow rose.  
Taylor paused at that and folded his arms. The clarification caught him off guard.  
“No,” he admitted.  
He looked out across the yard, just trying to hold himself together at this point.   
“No, I don’t want to. I just think I need to.”  
“How isolated were you?” Natalie was back to being cautious.  
Taylor’s nostrils flared as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to stop himself thinking about it. He needed to just shut himself off and talk without thinking.  
“The only people I saw in three years were the guards, the lunch ladies, the nurses and the girls,” he admitted, “a few girls a week. Two lunch ladies. The same guards who would attack me when they were bored.”  
He smirked incredulously, finding it hard to believe that he might never see their faces again.  
“I still feel like I’m dreaming,” he squinted into the sunlight, “but when I was there I didn’t have this gripping fear that it might all end. I’d already given up. I had nowhere to hide. Nowhere to… _save_.”  
He shrugged to himself.  
“This is just all _really_ sudden.”  
“I understand that, I do,” Natalie promised, “but I don’t want you to throw it all away because you’re suddenly scared of being _safe_.”


	46. 2020

Taylor gave her an odd look at that.  
“I’m saying we’re all worried about you,” Natalie clarified, making him almost roll his eyes, “this isn’t something that any one of us has ever dealt with before. You’re not just on the run anymore; you’re literally being _hunted_.”  
Taylor couldn’t help but swallow hard. They’d known it all along of course, but saying it aloud made it somehow more real.  
“…And we need to keep you safe. So if you’re going to start freaking out on us and taking off on your own, you need to be aware that we might not be able to do that.”  
“I can’t pretend that everything’s okay. It’s not,” he shrugged, finally giving her eye contact.  
“We know that, and we don’t expect you to,” Natalie assured, “we’ll take baby steps. But you need to let us keep an eye on you, and being out here all alone when you don’t know the signs to look for is very counter-productive to our cause.”  
Taylor looked out across the yard again, taking a moment to just breathe.   
“Your cause,” he repeated softly.  
“Yes. I know you’re not a hundred percent on board with what we’re doing, and that’s fine,” Natalie insisted, “but I know you want to fight this. This is just the only way we know how to right now.”  
“I want to fight this, I do,” Taylor assured, “and before I was taken, I would have. But in all honesty? I don’t think I have any fight left in me.”  
“That’s not true,” Natalie scoffed, “I know you, and you wouldn’t-“  
“You knew me,” Taylor looked her in the eye, “you don’t know me. Not anymore.”  
Natalie was left speechless. She didn’t want to argue, but she wasn’t all that sure of what he was trying to say.  
“Are you saying you don’t want to help us?” she frowned, “that you don’t want to help your _son_? Or are you saying you just don’t want to be here?”  
Taylor turned away. He’d known this wasn’t going to go well, either way. But he didn’t want to upset her all the same.  
“Neither,” he assured, “I do want to be involved, but if I end up back in the public eye… things are going to turn to shit pretty quickly. I don’t know what will happen if I have to…”  
He trailed off, looking uncomfortable.  
“Have to what?” Natalie was getting worried.  
Taylor didn’t respond at first, looking like he was just trying to find the right words. He ended up shaking his head and giving up on that train of thought.  
“I need time,” he repeated, “to think this through. To work out what I need in all of this.”  
“Ezra doesn’t have time,” Natalie’s expression darkened, “those men you left behind, they don’t have time. You know that better than anyone.”  
Taylor took yet another deep breath before he began to walk towards her. He paused at her side as she refused to look back at him.  
“I was never going to be their hero,” he insisted, “it was always going to be you.”  
He put a hand on her shoulder for a moment before walking past her. She remained still as she listened to his footsteps leading away.   
When she thought he’d gone far enough she let the tears she’d been holding back go.


	47. 2020

“Hey Dad,” Jessica pulled him in for a hug, “I’m glad you’re here.”  
“I didn’t think it was a good idea to stay in Chicago for much longer,” Walker was cautious, “where’s Tay?”  
“He’s around somewhere,” Jessica responded as she let go, “how much fuel’s in your car? Nat thinks we might have to evacuate if the copters take too much interest in the ranch.”  
“I have a few jerry cans ready to go if need be,” Walker assured, “is she worried about the patrols?”  
“We had an early patrol,” Jessica informed, “she thinks it might have something to do with Avery. She was arrested in Phoenix.”  
Walker sighed at that.  
“Everett’s still getting the details. I know that Nat’s really focused on Tay right now, but if Avery’s in trouble I want to go after her.”  
“Understood,” Walker assured, “wait until Everett’s confirmation and then we’ll talk. Where’s your Mom?”  
“I think she’s out back with the kids. Did you meet Charlotte?”  
“I did briefly,” he replied as he made to leave the room, evidently not interested in discussing it further.  
Jessica chewed her bottom lip for a moment before heading back toward Everett’s room. He was there with Monroe, who’d brought his brother something to snack on while he worked.  
“Anything new?” Jessica asked, taking a seat.  
“They know her name,” Monroe offered.  
“Her real name,” Everett amended, “they’re using her real name. I think they know she’s related to Uncle Tay.”  
“Could be why she got arrested.”  
“No she got arrested for punching someone, but it’s probably why they haven’t let her go.”  
“What does it say on record?” Jessica was only getting more worried.  
“There isn’t much here,” Everett shrugged, “either they aren’t recording it or… wait.”  
“What?” Monroe leant forward.  
“There’s video of an interview. That might show us more,” Everett opened it right away.  
The three watched the black and white recording in silence. There were two policewomen in the room with Avery, who was seated. Both were drilling her about the assault, and about her connection to Natalie and Ezra. Avery was keeping her guard up well until one of them suddenly attacked her.  
“Uh oh,” Everett’s eyes widened as Jessica covered her mouth in shock.  
“What are they-?”  
“Monroe, go find your Mom,” Jessica quickly insisted.  
“But-“  
“Just go!” she insisted, giving him a light push until he left the room.  
Everett was staring at the screen as he saw them hitting his Aunt over and over. There was a lot of yelling, but not much information being shared.  
“Stop it,” Jessica ordered, leaning forward to turn it off herself, “if they’re forcing information out of her, we won’t have long before they find the ranch.”  
“What are we gonna do?” Everett looked to her worriedly, “where can we go?”  
“I don’t know,” Jessica admitted, biting her lip as her mind started to race.


	48. 2020

As Taylor approached the small shed – which had become their makeshift garage – he could hear voices inside. He debated walking in a different direction until he recognised one of the voices as belonging to River.  
His son’s voice hadn’t even changed before he’d gone away, but he still recognised it from the few words they’d shared in the past couple of days. He paused by the open doorway to listen for a while, musing at how grown up he now sounded.   
“You know, keeping stuff from us is not really the way to go.”  
“We’re not keeping anything from you guys,” came Joe’s voice in retort, “what do you want to know?”  
“Uh… how about why we suddenly need this car fixed so fast?”  
Joe sighed, as if it was going to be hard to explain.  
“I’m not sure but I think your Mom wants to evacuate, just in case,” he replied, “but if we don’t get this car going we won’t have enough room, and we can’t leave your Aunt here without one.”  
“Is it because of the patrol?”  
“Partly. They think it might have something to do with Avery.”  
“How much trouble is she in?”  
“We’re not sure yet. Everett’s looking into it.”  
“But you haven’t heard from her?”  
“No we haven’t.”  
River grunted as something metal hit the concrete.  
“So is it because Dad’s back?”  
“We don’t know, but I think your Mom is worried. She just wants her bases covered right now in case we do have to take off all of a sudden.”  
“If Auntie Avie sold us out they should have been here by now though, right?”  
“I would have thought so. But there’s no saying how long they might keep trying.”  
River sighed and rolled the skateboard out.  
“Well hey, at least we might get out of this dump.”  
“You and me both,” Joe smirked, “I guess there’s always a bright side.”  
“Yeah,” River sounded a little forlorn, “but we can’t go home, can we?”  
“Not to Tulsa, no.”  
Taylor’s eyes fell at that. A part of him had always held out hope that one day he’d finish his sentence and they could go back to being a normal family, but as time went on each day only proved to him that it would never happen. Even if he hadn’t escaped them as opposed to being let go, the strain his absence had put on the family - even just on himself and Natalie - meant they’d never go back to being what they were.   
He’d already mourned them. He’d hoped they’d already mourned him. To be thrust so suddenly back into the thick of it left him so confused of where his heart lay. Of course he loved his family, but was he only going to be a burden on them? Or more accurately, a liability? A danger?  
He didn’t want to be responsible for bringing the authorities down on them. Not when their work was so important. But despite his concerns, he knew very well that any lawful reaction to his escape would already be well underway. And his family would certainly be direct in the firing line.  
“Can you hand me that?”  
River’s voice snapped him out of his trance and he quietly walked away. He wasn’t ready yet.


	49. 2020

“What is it?”  
Jessica looked up to see Ezra in the doorway with his arms folded.   
“You’ve got Monroe in a panic, so before he goes spreading some kind of scary rumour…”  
“They’re forcing answers out of Avery,” Jessica gave in right away, “we don’t know how long she’s going to hold out without giving away the ranch.”  
He looked to Everett, who seemed just as worried as his brother.   
“She hasn’t yet?” he thought to check.  
Jessica just shrugged, looking back at the frozen screen.  
“They’re not here yet,” was all she could manage.  
“And Mom?”  
“She doesn’t know, she went to find your Dad.”  
“I’ll go find her,” Ezra offered, “Everett, get into the DMV. Ready the license plates and let me know what needs to go where.”  
“On it!” he welcomed the distraction.  
“Where’s River?”  
“Joe went to help him with your Mom’s car,” Jessica rubbed her face, trying to dispel her nerves, “he still doesn’t have it running.”  
“We might not have time,” Ezra looked to the screens again, “I’ll take a team and go find us another car. Just make sure someone tells Mom.”  
“Are you sure?” Jessica sat up as he turned to leave, “what if you don’t get back in time?”  
“That’s why I’ll take a few people,” Ezra shrugged, “if we have to stay out, we stay. Otherwise we’re coming back with supplies and a new car.”  
She watched as he disappeared from sight, biting her lip as she thought it over.  
“Are you okay here?” she put a hand on Everett’s shoulder.  
He nodded, so she stood to leave. She needed to find Natalie and at least let her know what was going on. By the time she made it out into the living area Ezra had grabbed a set of keys and had both Penny and Jennifer by his side.  
“Be careful,” Jessica insisted, “do you have enough money?”  
“We’ll be fine,” Ezra assured, heading for the front door, “tell Mom we’ll be back soon.”  
Jessica stopped as they walked out, listening as their footsteps led to the nearest car. She had no idea of where to look for Natalie, and no idea of what she might walk in on if she were with Taylor. But she had to go.   
When she finally pulled herself together enough to step out the back door, she found Natalie on the porch quickly wiping at her eyes.  
“Are you okay?” she frowned.  
“Fine,” Natalie quipped, “what is it?”  
Jessica bit her lip again, looking around to check that Taylor was nowhere nearby.  
“They’re beating Avery,” she was still having trouble getting the words out, “there’s no telling how long we’re going to be safe here. Ezra went to get another car in case River can’t finish in time.”  
Natalie took a deep breath, just looking out across the yard.  
“We need to go,” she realised.  
“He’s also bringing back supplies, but we should get everyone ready,” Jessica added, “we should leave tonight.”


	50. 2020

Word quickly got around the ranch about the impending evacuation. It was tricky at first, but the adults managed to keep panic to a minimum by telling the kids they had plenty of time and that it would just be like the many drill runs they’d previously done.  
Natalie found River and Joe in the garage and informed them of what was happening. Joe opted to help pack up the house, while River continued working on the car. He wasn’t ready to give up on it just in case Ezra didn’t make it back.  
No one saw Taylor for a while.  
Natalie spent some time trying to convince Nikki to come with them, but she immediately declined.  
“Someone needs to stay, or it’s going to look more suspicious than ever,” she insisted, “and besides, we’re here legally. If we suddenly disappear when my brother-in-law escapes detention, that’s going to put a mark on us.”  
“But what if they come for you anyway?” Natalie was worried, “if they can’t find us, this will be on the short list of places they look.”  
“And if they can’t find _us_ , do you really think they’re going to stop looking?” Nikki reasoned, “better to face them now and insist we know nothing than for them to catch up with us further down the line and have them endanger my kids.”  
Natalie knew it hadn’t been a stab at her and Taylor, but it had sure felt like it.   
“…And if this doesn’t work out the way you want it to,” she went on, “and this is still happening in five years’ time, then we’re going underground. I am not losing my boys. I have lost enough already.”  
“You don’t think we’ll succeed,” Natalie realised with a nervous nod.  
“I think the odds are against you,” Nikki admitted frankly, “but I have seen both you and Taylor overcome great things in the past. I know better than to underestimate you two.”  
“That might even be reassuring if I had Taylor on board,” Natalie mused.  
“Did something happen?” Nikki picked up on immediately.  
Natalie took a moment to compose herself, before shrugging dismally.  
“He tells me there’s no fight left in him,” she looked Nikki in the eye, “so how is he supposed to front the president?”  
“With that attitude? He won’t. You can’t force him,” Nikki replied, “so what’s plan B?”  
“There is no plan B,” Natalie felt her eyes welling again and it only heightened her emotions more, “this is it. He either helps us, or it’s over. We disappear. We hope to hell no one finds us. We hope no one finds Ezra or River or…”  
She shook her head, not wanting to speculate losing all three of her sons. Nikki hesitated a moment before slipping an arm around her shoulder.  
“We’ll keep in touch,” she insisted, “I’ll have Everett keep an eye on you.”  
“Everett needs to dismantle the console once we’re gone,” Natalie wiped at her eyes, “if they come here they might search the house. You don’t want them finding it.”  
“We’ll keep some burner phones then,” Nikki assured, “I’ll have the boys keep them in the ceiling. We’ll bury everything else.”  
Natalie worked to calm herself at that, knowing she was only panicking because of the earlier conversation with her husband. Nikki had long been a voice of reason over the past couple of years and she knew she’d come to the right person.  
“Thank you,” she said softly, knowing goodbyes were shortly coming, “for everything.”  
“Thank you for still fighting the good fight,” Nikki gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead in response.


	51. 2020

“Hey.”  
Charlotte looked up to a gentle knock on the door, seeing Zoe standing there with a soft smile.  
“Do you need a hand with anything?” she offered.  
“No,” Charlotte shrugged, “I guess we never really unpacked…”  
“I guess you’re right,” Zoe mused, “we have to leave a lot behind so there’s not really much else for me to do.”  
“Already?”  
“Until we’re ready to go, then we’ll have to get all the kids’ stuff together.”  
“Right,” Charlotte nodded, “and all the kids are going?”  
“All but three,” Zoe sighed, coming into the room to lean against the wall, “Nikki’s little ones will stay behind with their Mom. They were legally here all along so if they leave it’ll just look weird.”  
“They won’t be in danger?” Charlotte looked worried.  
“I don’t think so,” Zoe considered, “as far as the world is concerned we were never here, so… the most Nikki would know about what we’ve been doing is either over the phone or what’s on the news. Phone records won’t show anything out of the ordinary for at least the past two years.”  
“But Ezra was always on the phone,” now she was just confused, “how come the records-?”  
“We use a lot of burner phones. Untraceable,” Zoe explained, “but some of us still have our own cell phones, and there’s a landline here too. Those are the records they’ll check. Or they should be, at least.”  
“You’ve really put a lot into this.”  
“We kinda had to,” Zoe mused, “we didn’t want to make too many mistakes and end up failing before we started.”  
Charlotte nodded, watching as Eden played on the floor during a moment of awkward silence.  
“So where are we going?” she eventually asked.  
Zoe chewed her lip for a second before looking back out into the hallway.  
“I don’t know,” she admitted, “I don’t know if anyone knows. Just somewhere far away from here. I guess somewhere that we’d hope Avery wouldn’t think of.”  
“What will happen to Avery if she tells them you’re here – or _we’re_ here, I guess – and they turn up and we’re not? Won’t that make them angry?” Charlotte was concerned.  
Zoe didn’t answer for a moment, keeping her eyes down.   
“I hope not,” she admitted, “but I guess we won’t know.”  
They both looked to the door as they heard footsteps on the floorboards, and Zoe stood from the wall again when she realised it was Natalie.  
“Zoe,” she realised when she saw her, “come to the living room. Family meeting.”  
“Okay,” Zoe replied before Natalie disappeared again.  
She looked to Charlotte, vaguely wondering why it didn’t include her.  
“She seems worried,” Charlotte didn’t intend to move from her kids anyway.  
“Yeah,” Zoe agreed, “guess I’ll find out and let you know.”  
She gave her another smile and stepped through the door again. Charlotte watched after her before again being distracted by Eden.  
Once again her heart sank. She felt like a doll just being thrust around between everyone. No one really knew what to make of her being there, and she’d barely spoken to Jordan since that first day.  
If they really were evacuating, maybe it was time to go out on her own?


	52. 2020

“Dad?” Jessica finally found him, pulling the extra fuel from the trunk of his car.  
“Yeah?” he looked up, almost hitting his head.  
He ducked backward before reaching for the second can.  
“Would you come with us to Phoenix?”  
“Who’s going?” Walker frowned.  
“Just me and Joe so far,” Jessica admitted, “we haven’t talked to anyone else yet.”  
“What about Hans?” Walker’s frown only deepened, “how are you supposed to keep Joe out of the firing line?”  
“Well that’s why we need help,” Jessica insisted.  
Walker sighed and shook his head as he took the fuel to the porch.  
“I don’t think you’ve thought this through.”  
“We can’t just leave her there!” Jessica’s voice rose, “Dad you don’t know what they’re doing to her!”  
“I have a pretty good idea,” Walker went back to the car, “this isn’t anything new, Jess. Just because it’s happening to one of our own.”  
“Dad, it’s _Avery_! How can you not care?!”  
“Of course I care,” Walker stopped what he was doing to stare her down, “and of course I want to help. But I do not agree with this kind of automatic and reckless response – one that will endanger even more people. You haven’t thought this through.”  
“We need to do something,” Jessica insisted, “instead of sitting here with our thumbs up our ass.”  
“I’d go.”  
Both looked up to the other side of the car. Taylor stood there with his arms folded.  
“I mean if I could, I’d go,” he clarified, “but I’d at least want to know what I was getting into first. What’s your plan for when you get there?”  
“I don’t know,” Jessica admitted, “I just need to be there for her.”  
“How?” he shrugged, “how will she even know you’re there unless you get locked up too?”  
“At least I’m trying!”  
“Now, now-“ Walker interjected.  
“You know as well as I do the reason Avery’s still on lockdown,” Taylor looked his father in the eye, “you don’t think if Jess shows up on their doorstep she’s as good as gone too? _They’re after me_ , and they’ll use anyone close to us to get to me.”  
“Then what do we do?!” Jessica demanded, “we don’t have anyone else!”  
“We need to play it smart,” Taylor’s brow rose, “just like they did when I was picked up. We need someone not related to the cause, and we need Everett’s help.”  
“That’s all well and good but we’re evacuating,” Jessica scorned, “we won’t have Everett for much longer. There’s no way we can pull off a jail break in time, and I’m pretty sure thanks to you that’s something they’ll be looking out for.”  
“I didn’t ask for this!”  
“Hey!” Natalie’s voice suddenly cut through the otherwise silent outdoors.  
Both Taylor and Jessica looked up to see her already worked up. She had to have overheard most of the quarrel.  
“Inside. Both of you. Family meeting,” she ordered, “Dad? You too, please.”  
Walker looked up non-committedly, but closed the trunk and was the first to follow her inside.


	53. 2020

“Nikki and I were talking…” Natalie began.  
“I’m staying behind with the boys, as planned,” she said for her.  
“Walk and Di, you’re welcome to stay too,” Natalie went on, “I just spoke to my Mom and we have temporary sanctuary there for the rest of us.”  
“In Atlanta?” Jessica frowned.  
“Yes. I want everyone to head there so we can regroup and figure out a better option.”  
“How many cars do we have?” Zoe looked between them.  
“I’m not going to Atlanta,” Jessica announced, “I’m going to Phoenix.”  
“Jess-“  
“Someone has to!” she glared in Taylor’s direction, “if I’m the only one who’ll go, then so be it!”  
“If you’re going to Phoenix you need a team,” Natalie insisted, not interested in the byplay.  
“Avery’s team should still be there, they never got arrested. I just need to find them.”  
“Okay, how?”  
“I’ll check the motels. We’re supposed to use the motels, right?”  
“The motels?” Taylor frowned.  
“It’s a backup plan,” Nikki explained, “if we can’t use phones or we get lost. You go to the first motel in the local directory, check in under a pseudonym and wait for us to find you.”  
“Everett should be able to see if anyone checked in around the time of Avie’s arrest,” Natalie agreed.   
“Should I…?” Zoe began to offer.  
“Not now. We need to sort out cars,” Natalie insisted, “Taylor and I will go in the SUV we got in Chicago and we’ll take River, Viggo and Willa. When Ezra gets back with the new car he, Jenny and Penny can go in that one. We need someone to go with Charlotte in hers.”  
“I can,” Zoe offered, “I mean, I’m all that’s left but… I don’t mind.”  
“Are you sure we should leave her on her own?” Taylor suddenly looked worried, “she won’t know where she’s going, and she’ll be the top of the wanted list.”  
“I just said I’d go with her,” Zoe scorned, “I know where we’re going, and if worse comes we’ll just call.”  
“It’ll be no different than the trouble we’re going to have,” Natalie assured him, “but we don’t have a choice, we still need to go.”  
“That leaves me and mine to our car,” Jessica gave her father an awkward stare, willing him mentally to just go along with her.  
“Yes,” Natalie agreed.  
“Three cars to Georgia, one to Arizona,” Nikki concluded.  
“Two to Arizona,” Walker sighed, folding his arms.  
He didn’t need to look in Jessica’s direction to know what she was doing.  
“I’ll keep them company. Make sure they’re okay.”  
“You may need to lay low too,” Natalie warned, “everyone knows you were in Chicago when Taylor broke out.”  
“I’ve had my words with law enforcement on the matter,” Walker assured, “they will expect me to come to my daughter’s aid. I’ll be fine.”  
“You might end up being our inside link,” Jessica’s brow rose.


	54. 2020

“Penny, do you have your headphones?” Jennifer suddenly turned in her seat.  
Penny gave her an odd look before casting her eyes over the food they’d stocked in the back seat.  
“Now? Really?”  
“Unless you want to hear it?” Jennifer poked her tongue out.  
“Ew,” the younger teen quickly began the search.  
“Now’s really not the time,” Ezra sighed, knowing she would go ahead anyway.  
“I don’t care. We might not get another chance,” Jennifer insisted, waiting patiently as Penny untangled her earphones and set her iPod going.  
Once she was sure the music was going, she turned back to Ezra.  
“Have you thought about it?” she asked apprehensively.  
“It wasn’t our deal,” Ezra insisted.  
“Screw our deal,” Jennifer scorned, “we don’t know that it’s ever going to actually happen. Who’s going to marry us? We can’t exactly elope to Vegas.”  
Ezra rubbed at his face, concentrating on keeping his eyes on the road.  
“I’m just really worried about next week,” she admitted, “and I don’t want to… I don’t want your first time to be with one of _them_.”  
She waited a moment, but she wasn’t getting a response. She bit her lip as she watched him stare at the road in silence, a slight hum coming from Penny’s earphones proving she had the music up loud.  
“Did something happen in Chicago? With you and Charlotte?”  
“What? No!” Ezra scorned, “she had sex with my Dad. Gross.”  
“Then what? Why can’t we just-“  
“Do you want me to pull over right here? Is that it?” he finally gave her a glance.  
“Of course not.”  
“Then what do you want me to do? We don’t have time. We need to find a car, and I’m pretty sure getting Joe and the kids to safety should be our top priority. Not our non-existent sex life.”  
“Of course it should,” Jennifer was beginning to get upset, “and I’m not trying to put our lives over theirs, I’m just really worried. What if we don’t get another chance? What if this is it for us?”  
“You can’t think like that,” Ezra shrugged, “what if every day is ‘it’ for us? We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow – should that change what we do now? There’s a possibility that even since we’ve been gone, the ranch could have been raided. We wouldn’t have heard from Everett because the console would be compromised. Does that mean we shouldn’t go back? It’s nothing but speculation, and we’ve done okay so far. We’ll keep doing okay. I know we will.”  
Jennifer folded her arms and sat back into her seat. This wasn’t going the way she’d hoped.  
“Look. I’m not going to be pressured into anything-“  
“I’m not trying to pressure you,” she scoffed,  
“-I know you’re not,” he assured, “but maybe since the entire country has been focused on nothing but sex since the war, I just want to abstain as long as possible. And that’s nothing against you.”  
“That’s bullshit,” Jennifer said straight out, “you’re rebelling because they took your Dad away and you’ve had a guilty conscience ever since for wanting him gone.”  
Ezra ground his teeth at that, knowing where she was going with it but still not willing to agree.  
“Maybe,” he relented, “but don’t I have that right?”  
Jennifer kept her gaze out the window, before hastily reaching around to tap Penny on the leg to signal that the conversation was over. Penny didn’t bother to look up and kept her earphones in.


	55. 2020

Once everyone had agreed on who would be taking what cars where, Taylor had once again ducked away from the crowd.  
This time he’d headed for the tech room where he found Everett still at work with his brother by his side.  
“Hey guys,” he greeted apprehensively.  
“Hey Uncle Tay,” Monroe didn’t look up.  
“Have they stopped fighting yet?” Everett added.  
“They’ve stopped fighting,” Taylor assured, leaning in the doorway, “are you guys okay in here?”  
“We’re fine,” Everett insisted.  
“But Aunty Avie… not so much,” Monroe gave him a glance.  
“You probably shouldn’t be watching that,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed when he saw stills from a police interview with her on one of the screens.  
“Already seen it,” Everett assured, “we need to pay attention and see if anything comes up about the ranch.”  
“But everyone’s leaving anyway,” Monroe sounded forlorn.  
“They’re still packing up,” Taylor put a hand on Monroe’s shoulder, “why don’t you go see if anyone needs help?”  
Monroe gave him an awkward glance at the unexpected dismissal, but took his leave. Once he was gone Taylor took his seat.  
“So how does all this work?” he asked as if to distract Everett from the zone he was in.  
“It’s complicated,” Everett was glad for it, but didn’t know where to begin.  
“How complicated?” Taylor leant forward, “if you hacked the detention security, can you pretty much hack anywhere?”  
“Almost,” Everett nodded, somewhat proud, “there’s a few places I still can’t get into, places with really tight security. Like around the president. The FBI’s still a no-go, and the military.”  
“The military?” Taylor blinked, “why would you try the military?”  
“Um. To see if they had logs of where you’d been sent,” Everett felt himself blushing a little, “but I didn’t really try. They’re good at tracing people who do.”  
“Good thinking,” Taylor smiled, “so what else can you hack?”  
“Anything, I think,” Everett shrugged, “right now I’m in the DMV changing license plate details, and… the Phoenix Police Department watching Aunty Avie, and… the traffic surveillance cameras in El Paso so I can track Ezra.”  
“That’s a lot of multitasking,” Taylor appreciated, “you’re really good at this.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Oh… and they need you to check the motels around Phoenix. It’s something about Avery’s team checking in under false names, and if you can contact them.”  
“Got it.”  
Taylor watched him for a while, amazed at how he kept his concentration up for so long. He vaguely wondered what effect this sort of thing had on his schooling. He hadn’t seen any of the kids doing any work since he’d been there. He didn’t want to speculate, but he had a feeling these extracurricular activities had all but taken over all of their time.  
“So if I wanted to hack into somewhere,” he tried to stop himself from thinking about it, “how would I go about it?”


	56. 2020

It was well after night fall when Ezra made it back to the compound. He pulled up beside the mound that was Charlotte’s car, and by the time Jennifer pulled in beside him both he and Penny had begun unloading the back seat.  
As they began pulling out bags and setting them on the porch, Jessica appeared from the front door.  
“How did you go?” she asked, folding her arms to protect herself from the cold.  
“Good,” Penny replied.  
“We should load this stuff straight into the cars,” Ezra’s game face was back on, “can we get yours moved around here?”  
“I’ll get my keys,” Jessica nodded, “and I’ll call Charlotte out.”  
“Thanks.”  
Both River and Zoe came out to help Charlotte uncover her car while Jessica fetched hers from the garage. The six of them distributed Ezra’s supplies – including long life food, water, blankets, flashlights, batteries and new cell phones – evenly among the four cars, and by the time they were done Natalie had been standing on the porch to watch for a while.  
“Is something wrong?” Ezra eventually came over to ask.  
“No,” Natalie assured, “is the car reliable?”  
“It looks near-new, and has a full tank,” Ezra looked back at it, “I hear the Lexus is supposed to be great in a car chase if that’s what you’re worried about.”  
“Ezra,” she scorned as he smirked, “I’m glad you like it, because it’s yours.”  
“I have no problem with that,” he mused.  
“I need you to take Penny and Jennifer with you to Atlanta. Your grandmother’s offered us a temporary place to stay,” Natalie went on.  
“Okay…”  
“We’ll regroup there. Jess is going to Phoenix with your grandfather to see if she can help Avery.”  
“What makes her think she can?” Ezra frowned, “after everything? After _Dad_?”  
“I don’t know,” Natalie shrugged, “but they’re going to try. So the rest of us will meet in Atlanta and figure out what to do from there.”  
Ezra watched as Penny walked past him and into the house, scratching at his chin as he thought for a moment.  
“What exactly are we going to do?” he asked bluntly, “do you have anything in mind?”  
Natalie shot an awkward glance in Charlotte’s direction, conscious of the fact that she might be able to hear them.  
“I don’t know yet,” she admitted, keeping her voice down, “I’ll think about it on the way. If you guys are ready I want you to leave tonight.”  
“Can do,” Ezra nodded, picking up on her worry, “what about you?”  
“Jess is still a bit upset, she needs to sleep on it,” she folded her arms, “we’ll take Charlotte with us once she’s gone in the morning.”  
“Okay,” he nodded, “so we’ll lead the way.”  
“Thank you,” Natalie watched after him as he followed his sister inside.  
She remained on the porch for a while, staring out into the night.  
Who knew if they’d ever make it back here?


	57. 2020

“So how do you know which motel?” Taylor was watching everything Everett did.  
“Start with the ones closest to where we last saw them and work my way out.”  
“Where was that?”  
“At the police station where Avery was,” he could see that Everett was already checking a phone directory.  
“Good thinking,” Taylor was impressed, “sounds like you’ve done this before.”  
“A few times when Ezra-“ he suddenly cut himself off when he realised what he was going to say.  
He hesitated before hurriedly getting back to typing.  
“Ezra?” Taylor’s brow rose.  
“It’s nothing,” Everett didn’t sound at all convincing, “I think I found it.”  
Taylor wasn’t sure he wanted to know, and so went back to watching his nephew. He spent some time backdating surveillance in the area – including traffic cameras from the Department of Transport – before getting into the intranet of the motel itself to check the bookings.  
“Who are we looking for?” Taylor asked, well aware that he wasn’t really helping.  
“You don’t know them,” Everett pulled a face, “I think they were her college friends or something. They’re cool though.”  
He soon found what he was looking for and typed the corresponding phone number of the motel room into the dialler. He was about to hit ‘call’ when he paused.  
“Something wrong?” Taylor frowned, “want me to do it?”  
Everett scoffed.  
“Sure. Having a man call isn’t unusual or anything,” he was sarcastic, “no I just…”  
He paused again. He was having trouble getting the words out.  
“It sucks that you’re leaving,” he said finally, “I thought we were gonna have more time. So did Mon.”  
Taylor nodded solemnly.  
“I’m sorry,” he offered, “and I wish I could stay. But it seems like you guys and your Mom have a good thing going on here. I don’t want to ruin that.”  
“We missed you,” Everett shifted in his seat, “even before.”  
“I’m sorry for that too,” Taylor put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it reassuringly.  
Everett sighed uncomfortably. He didn’t know what had happened with his Aunts, Uncle and Mom but he knew it had been important – and it was related to why his Dad hadn’t come home. But far from feeling jealous that his cousins still had a father, he’d wished Taylor had still been around as much as he had been before.  
“Maybe when all this is over,” he began cautiously, “you could teach me to drive?”  
“I’m probably not the best person to ask,” Taylor smirked a little, “but sure, if you want.”  
Everett gave a short nod, and finally clicked ‘call’. The dial tone came through his headset and he cleared his throat as he waited for someone to pick up.  
“Hello?”  
“Hey, it’s me,” Everett brushed over, “I don’t know what-“  
“Hang up!”  
Everett jumped a little at both the yell and the sudden disconnection. It was half a second before a red warning suddenly came up on his screen.  
“Uh oh,” his eyes widened.


	58. 2020

“MOM! MOM!”  
“Whoa!” Ezra grabbed him by the shoulders before he could run past, “what’s wrong?!”  
“Call them!” Everett was already out of breath.  
Ezra’s face paled but he obliged. His wolf whistle pierced through the otherwise quiet, most of the kids having already been put to bed.  
“Now what’s going on?” he demanded, one hand back on Everett’s shoulder.  
“They traced the call!” Everett looked on the verge of tears, “I don’t know if they found us or not but they _knew_! They knew I was gonna call!”  
“Who? Who were you calling?” Ezra frowned.  
“Avery’s team!”  
Ezra looked up as Monroe, River and Viggo were the first to appear.   
“Where’s Mom?” he demanded.  
“What?” Viggo looked confused as River rubbed his eyes.  
“Here,” Natalie appeared from the front door, “what’s going on? Why’d you call?”  
“They’re coming!” Everett exclaimed.  
“He thinks his call to Phoenix was traced,” Ezra couldn’t hide his worry, “they could be on their way here now.”  
Natalie didn’t wait to hear any more. She ran toward the bedrooms, hitting the walls as she went.  
“JESS! JOE!” she called out before she even got to their room.  
Jessica met her in the doorway, sleep still in her eyes. Natalie grabbed her to make sure she was listening.  
“Jess, you need to take Joe and go. _Now_.”  
It took a moment to sink in, but her eyes soon widened.  
“Joe?!” she called over her shoulder as she disappeared back into the dark room.  
Object achieved Natalie went straight back to the living room. A slightly larger crowd had gathered, and Ezra had his arms around Everett’s shoulders as he tried to keep him calm.  
“Ezra I need you to take your brothers and sisters,” she ordered, “you need to head to Atlanta right now.”  
“We won’t all fit in one car,” Ezra shook his head.  
“I’ll stay,” River offered, raising a hand, “I still haven’t switched the plates yet.”  
“You can come with us,” Natalie nodded.  
“We should get on that,” Ezra insisted.  
“I’ve changed them in the database,” Everett assured.  
“I’ll help you. Do you know where they go?” Ezra checked.  
At Everett’s nod, Ezra took both he and River outside to get to work. The door hadn’t closed behind them before Jessica and Joe appeared, Joe carrying a sleepy Hans and Jessica with her arms full of his things.  
“How much of a lead do we have?” she asked.  
“Don’t worry about that, just go,” Natalie insisted before giving her a quick hug, “and good luck.”  
“You too,” Joe offered, stopping to give her a quick kiss before leading his family outside.


	59. 2020

“Where’s Zoe?” Natalie could feel herself starting to panic.  
“She might have been outside,” Nikki said calmly, “why?”  
She looked to the front doorway as they heard Jessica’s car start.  
“We need to evacuate now,” Natalie said between breaths, “she and Charlotte need to leave.”  
“I’ll find them,” Monroe offered, disappearing down the hall.  
Viggo worriedly looked between them before following his cousin.  
“How can I help?” Nikki offered.  
Natalie shook her head, trying to keep her thoughts straight.  
“You might want to check on Everett,” she suggested as both Penny and Jennifer surfaced, Willa trailing behind, “he’s a bit upset.”  
“Where is he?”  
“Outside switching plates with Ezra and River.”  
Nikki nodded and headed outside.  
“What’s-“  
“Grab your stuff,” Natalie cut Penny off, “Ezra’s going to take you to Atlanta as soon as he’s done outside.”  
“Tonight?” Jennifer looked worried.  
“Uh oh,” Willa chimed in, taking hold of Penny’s hand.  
“Come on,” Penny pulled her back down the hall.  
“Tonight, now,” Natalie confirmed, “we need everyone out.”  
“What’s going on?!” Zoe appeared, looking dishevelled and being dragged by Monroe.  
“Okay we need to invent a system where everyone arrives in the room at the same time so this question/answer thing doesn’t go on all night,” Natalie stopped to take a breath.  
“We’re evacuating,” Jennifer informed Zoe.  
“Now?”  
“Now, as soon as you can get in a car and go. Jess and Joe are already gone,” Natalie insisted, “we have Ezra changing the plates over as we speak, you just need to get Charlotte and her kids and go.”  
“On it,” Zoe disappeared again just as fast.  
“Where’s Viggo?”  
“He’s with Eden and Jorryn getting them ready,” Monroe replied.  
“Okay good.”  
In moments the hallway was full as Zoe and Charlotte attempted to carry everything out to Charlotte’s car in a single trip. Including Jorryn’s carriers and both childrens’ bags. Viggo was following them with Jorryn in his arms.  
“Good luck guys,” Natalie and Zoe exchanged quick kisses as they passed.  
They managed to load the car and get Jorryn into his seat before Charlotte rushed back inside to fetch Eden from her room. When Nikki finally returned inside just as Charlotte’s car was starting, Natalie was taking deep breaths as if she were trying not to hyperventilate.  
“Are you okay?” she put a careful hand on her arm.  
“I’m fine,” she insisted, “we have all the cars organised except Walker’s. Jess is gone, Zoe’s going, and Ezra…”  
“That’s great,” Nikki insisted, “now what about you?”  
Natalie hesitated as she bit her lip, before she felt her heart skip a beat.  
“Where’s Taylor?”


	60. 2020

“My fellow Americans… It sounds odd to start a speech like that, but this is going to be a bit of an odd speech altogether. So I guess I’ll start at the beginning.”  
“Where’s that coming from?” Natalie frowned, before heading for the back door.  
Nikki followed her equally as confused.  
“My full name is Jordan Taylor Hanson. Many of you may remember me as Taylor Hanson, from fronting a band with two of my brothers. I, along with my brothers and with many of your loved ones, fought in the third world war of 2015.”  
Natalie came to a stop on the back patio where the television had been left on. There on screen – in full high definition – was her husband’s face.  
“As we all know, despite our resilience and ultimate success, the US forces sustained terrible losses. The vast majority of our loved ones did not make it home, and that included my brothers. Being one of the very few survivors was of course revered at first, but as I’m sure you’re all well aware, that soon changed.”  
He paused and his eyes lowered for a moment before he managed to pull himself together enough to look into the camera lens.  
“I don’t know if it made the national news, I haven’t been out for long enough to find out but… The people of Chicago and surrounding areas will have recently seen a video circulating showing a man – myself – being sexually abused by a guard in the Chicago Detention Center. This, as you may imagine, was directly related to the subsequent escape about a week ago as those who made the recording were in legitimate fear for my life.”  
He sighed, staring into the camera.  
“I am here today to confirm any fears anyone possibly has about the conditions sustained in any such detention centers. From the outside I understand the public have been told there weren’t many changes from the initial setup of the high class prisons used for our detention. This is simply not true. And I’m not talking about Paradise or those who had already been in legal incarceration; this is purely a focus on what you would call ‘deserters’. Also known as, those of us who chose loyalty to their families – to their God – above those misled ambitions of the State.”  
“What is he doing?” Nikki’s brow furrowed as she felt her heart race.  
“Where is he?” Natalie darted back into the house.  
“I hope that with everything I have that my family and I can continue to guide you all through what life has been like for myself and for deserters like me, but I know my time is short and I do fear recapture and I do fear death at their hand. I fear the same fate for my sons, and I fear the same fate for yours.”  
“What the fuck is he doing?!” Ezra demanded when he met his mother in the living room.  
“I don’t know!” Natalie insisted, before he beat her down the hall.  
“Let’s be honest here. Population control is simply a ruse for the unspeakable acts done to myself and those like me in unnecessary detainment. I beg you to look into this. Find out more. Find out what is going on, and I beg you for your help and for your voice. We cannot face this alone, and you _owe_ us. You owe us for the freedoms you still have because of the horrors we faced fighting in your name. We’ve paid our debt to you, and the time has come to show just a little gratitude.”


	61. 2020

Taylor jumped as the door slammed open and Ezra’s hand immediately flew across to disconnect the broadcast.  
The screen went dark before Ezra leant down to rip the power cords from their sockets.  
“Whoa!” Taylor jumped back further as it sparked.  
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Ezra demanded, his face red.  
“Helping,” Taylor shrugged, not bothering to raise his voice.  
“ _Helping_?! You’ve just put everyone here in danger!”  
“Ezra,” Natalie squeezed into the room and put a hand on his shoulder, “go outside. Get ready to go.”  
“No,” Ezra scorned, “he doesn’t know what he’s doing! This could kill us!”  
“Now you’re being dramatic,” Natalie’s eyes narrowed before she took him by the collar of the shirt and forcefully shoved him from the room, “GET OUT!”  
“Whoa hey!” Taylor stood from the chair when he saw what she’d done, “there’s no need for that, and I knew what I was doing.”  
“ _Did you?!_ ” Natalie turned on him, “what did you hack, Tay?!”  
“Everything,” he shrugged.  
“Everything,” Natalie repeated back to him, “you didn’t stop to think that _just maybe_ some of those networks have high quality tracers – put in place by the FBI – that could find us in minutes?”  
“We’re leaving anyway,” Taylor frowned.  
“NIKKI ISN’T!” Natalie almost screamed, “your _mother_ wasn’t! But now they have to! Do you even realise the danger you’ve put them in?!”  
Taylor looked back to the screen and scratched his head as Natalie turned to where Nikki waited in the hall.  
“Get your kids organised, you need to leave,” she was seething.  
“Only if you walk away,” Nikki said sternly, not wanting to leave them in such a state.  
Natalie quickly reasoned that she didn’t even want to look at him then and there and followed her son back toward the living area. Taylor and Nikki made short eye contact before he followed them.  
“I’m sorry, okay?!” he called after Natalie, “but if this is it, and this is the last night that we have, we needed the world to know!”  
“Oh the world definitely knows,” Ezra scorned, “fucking Mars knows by now.”  
“Which is why you need to leave,” Natalie ordered.  
“You know what?” Taylor could feel his adrenaline pumping along with theirs, “I am so tired of everyone pretending this has nothing to do with them. We all know what started this. We all know _who_ started this. If it weren’t for her, we never would have had to leave Tulsa in the first place. _None_ of this would be happening.”  
“Excuse me?” Ezra seethed, “you’d better not be talking about who I think you’re talking about.”  
“Don’t tell me you never thought about it,” Taylor’s voice lowered.  
“About what?” Natalie looked between them, coming down from angry to confused.  
“Are you accusing Jenny of ratting you out?” Ezra could barely form the words.  
“Of course not,” Natalie scorned, “why would you?”  
“Because nothing else makes sense! We had a haven! All the neighbors were in on it!” Taylor’s voice rose again, “we were all watching out for each other, and _she_ wanted me gone!”  
“Jenny didn’t rat you out!” Ezra’s tone matched his, “ _I did_!”


	62. 2020

In the moments that followed, they could have heard a pin drop. The sound of a car door finally snapped them out of it. Ezra’s face was already red.  
“You what?” Taylor’s voice was gravelly.  
“Go,” Natalie’s eyes were dark.  
“Mom-“  
“GO!” she yelled, pointing to the door, “I’ll deal with you in Georgia! Get out of my sight!”  
Ezra grit his teeth as he turned toward the door. Right onto the palm of Penny’s hand.  
He flinched backward but it was too late to avoid the hit.  
“How dare you,” his sister seethed, “he’s not just your father, you took him from _all_ of us!”  
“Both of you, get out of here right now,” Natalie ordered, “we don’t have time for this.”  
“I’m not going with him,” Penny insisted.  
“Fine,” Ezra pushed past her and disappeared through the front door.  
“You can come with us,” Natalie assured her, “grab your things before he leaves with them.”  
Penny looked hesitant, but followed her brother outside. They could hear the Lexus starting as its doors opened and closed.  
“Nikki, go,” Natalie insisted, her tone softer now that Ezra had left the building, “I’d offer to help you pack but-“  
“Don’t mention it,” she shrugged, a hand on Natalie’s shoulder, “take care. I want to see you guys in one piece at the other end.”  
She gave Taylor an apologetic glance before heading toward the bedrooms, a moment before the front door opened and Everett appeared.  
“That way,” Natalie pointed him in the direction she’d gone.  
He took off at a run. A moment of silence followed.  
“Do we need to talk about this?” Natalie hugged herself awkwardly, not bothering to turn toward him.  
“No,” Taylor assured, “not yet.”  
“Good. Then let’s get the hell out of here. I can’t handle any more surprises tonight.”  
She made her way to the hall to fetch the last of the bags she had packed. Taylor watched after her before making his way to the front door.  
He stood on the porch with his arms folded and watched the tail lights of the Lexus fade into the night. Penny was loading bags from the driveway into Natalie’s car, and River was quickly using a drill to set the new license plates in place.   
The driveway seemed bare with only Natalie’s car there now. Both Jessica and Charlotte were long gone – he didn’t even get to say goodbye, despite knowing he’d see them again soon – and Walker and Nikki both had theirs parked around back. As if on cue he could hear Nikki’s starting up.  
He hadn’t even said a quick goodbye to Viggo or Willa.  
His mind wandered back to the night he’d been taken. To how quiet Ezra had been. To how still he’d been sitting when the house had been raided. All these years he’d been convinced he’d simply had an idea of what Jennifer was planning to do. But the truth? He could barely comprehend it.  
Rubbing his face, he turned to go back inside. There wasn’t anything he could do to help out here. There wasn’t really anything he could do to help inside either. He didn’t know enough of what they’d done with the place to even know where to begin with helping to pack. But aside from Nikki’s things the family seemed to have a good handle on everything.


	63. 2020

“Do you want to talk about it?”  
“No,” Ezra cast a glance in the rear mirror, well aware his younger siblings were listening.  
“We heard everything,” Jennifer pointed out, “what your Dad was saying. You know we heard it.”  
“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” Ezra snapped, not taking his eyes off the road this time.  
“This is going to be a long days’ drive if this is how it’s going to be.”  
“Then get some sleep,” Ezra insisted before looking in the mirror again, “and you guys should sleep too. We’ll stop in a few hours for fuel and get midnight snacks if you’re keen.”  
“We can’t sleep,” Viggo scorned, “we _were_ asleep…”  
“Yeah,” Willa agreed nervously, still not sure why they had to leave so abruptly and missing her father already.  
“Well I guess you’ll have plenty of time tomorrow to catch up,” Ezra said under his breath.  
“How much of a lead do Jess and Zoe have?” Jennifer changed the subject, not wanting the car to be quiet.  
“I’m not sure,” Ezra admitted, “but I’m pretty sure Jess isn’t headed for Atlanta.”  
“Avery?” Jennifer confirmed.  
But Ezra suddenly wasn’t paying attention. He kept his eyes on his mirrors as he tried to concentrate.  
“What is it?” she asked nervously.  
Ezra quickly hushed her, slowing the car a little and lowering his window. Then she heard it too.  
“No, no!” Jennifer instantly began to panic.  
“Just hold on,” Ezra insisted, shifting up a gear and planting his foot.  
He kept his headlights down as he aimed to get onto the main highway before the helicopter could spot them. They weren’t using a spotlight, but they weren’t headed for the ranch either.  
They were scouting.  
He kept his breathing even as he kept his eyes on the ramp off in the distance. Jennifer in turn tried to keep herself calm for Viggo and Willa’s sake. She kept her eye on the helicopter in her side mirror as Ezra kept focus.  
“They’re getting closer,” she warned, making Viggo turn to look.  
“We’re almost there,” Ezra insisted, willing the car to go faster.  
But just as he spoke, the spotlight came on.  
“EZ!” Viggo yelled as it focused on their dust cloud.  
“No, no, no…” he muttered under his breath, forcing himself to slow the car to a legal speed.  
It didn’t take long for them to connect the dust cloud to the car. Now they were under the spotlight.  
“Get them in the back!” Ezra glanced over his shoulder.  
“Hey, Viggo,” Jennifer turned in her seat, “pull that seat down how we showed you, okay? We need you guys to get in the trunk.”  
“But it’s squishy,” Willa pulled a face, undoing her seatbelt regardless.  
“Don’t argue!” Ezra ordered, cursing in his head at how close he’d been, “and whatever happens, just stay quiet!”  
He pulled onto the ramp and got on the highway as Viggo helped his sister into the trunk behind him. Jennifer reached back to help them close the seat up before covering it with some blankets.  
“We’ve got company,” Ezra informed her, seeing red and blue lights appear up ahead.  
“Were they waiting for us?” Jennifer was breathless.  
“Does it matter?” Ezra grimaced, quickly checking the glove compartment for his ID.


	64. 2020

“Step out of the car please,” she shone her flashlight through the window, the other hand resting on her holster.  
“You don’t want to see my ID?” Ezra wasn’t in the mood to play nice.  
“Just step out of the car.”  
Ezra grunted internally before doing as she asked. She indicated for him to pass her the ID, but he could already see her eyeing him suspiciously. This was no random traffic stop.  
“Jordan Ezra Hanson, yes?”  
“That’s what it says,” he leant back against the car.  
“Coming up on your eighteenth next week.”  
“So I am,” Ezra didn’t give away anything, but kept his hearing focused on where the second policewoman had moved around to Jennifer’s side of the car.  
“You giving me cheek, son?”  
“No ma’am,” Ezra shook his head, “but I’m not your son.”  
The officer smirked, before pulling out her smartphone. Ezra watched as she unlocked the screen.  
“You see, we know exactly whose ‘son’ you are,” she mused as she pulled up the page she was after.  
When she turned the phone Ezra could see it was a photo of his Dad with a list of known associates beneath it. His name was second on the list.  
“Which could be a problem, because your father is in a spot of trouble right now.”  
“Nothing to do with me,” Ezra shrugged.  
“Where you headed?”  
“That’s none of your business,” he replied before pointedly adding, “ _ma’am_.”  
“At this time of night? Out with your girlfriend?” she shone the light back into the car.  
“Fiancé,” he corrected, before having to squint as the spotlight rained down on them once again.  
The officer stepped back and waved her arms in a signal before the light turned away and the helicopter continued on. Ezra hoped that was a good sign.  
But he also kind of hoped he was keeping them well distracted for now. He had no idea if any other cars had been stopped.  
“I don’t suppose you want to tell us where you came from, either?” she returned to the car.  
“Nope,” he agreed, keeping his eye on her.  
“Well then,” she offered him a smile, “I guess we’re just going to have to take you in.”  
“For what?” Ezra scoffed as she unhooked her cuffs from her belt.  
“Perversion of justice,” she said matter-of-factly, “not to mention your implication in your father’s escape. Perhaps you shouldn’t have made such a big show of being in Chicago around the time he was broken out.”  
“Complete coincidence,” Ezra muttered as she turned him to secure the first cuff.  
“I’m sure.”  
He locked eyes with Jennifer as the second cuff locked. She hadn’t spoken to the other officer at all.  
“Your girlfriend got her drivers’ license?”  
“Fiancé,” Ezra corrected again, “and yes she does.”  
“Good. She might need it.”  
“Might?” Ezra frowned before two simultaneous bangs echoed down the concrete highway.  
The Lexus tilted as the front right tire deflated, the second officer holstering her weapon again.  
“What the fuck?!” Ezra exclaimed, both worried about Jennifer but at the same time glad neither Viggo or Willa had cried out.  
The officer who’d cuffed him indicated to her partner before walking back to the squad car.  
“You can’t just leave her here!” Ezra exclaimed as the second came to fetch him.  
“Guess you should have thought of that,” she smirked, “before making our day even harder.”  
“You can’t hold me!” he exclaimed, “I’m still underage, I’ll be out tomorrow!”  
“Oh didn’t you hear?” she feigned surprise.  
“Hear what?”  
“There’s quite a backlog in the judicial system at the moment, too many girls stealing hair straighteners I guess,” she was obviously toying with him, “you’ll be lucky if your case gets seen to within the week.”  
“That’s right!” her partner called from the car, “hey Hanson… when’s your birthday again?”


	65. 2020

“Hey,” Taylor caught Natalie as she appeared from the hallway again, “anything I can do to help? I’m just kinda standing here twiddling my thumbs.”  
“Just get the car started so we can go,” she didn’t look up from the bags she set down.  
“Hey,” he took her by the arm before she could pass him again, “don’t worry about this. We’ll deal later.”  
“Like in the car while we’re running for our lives?” she locked eyes with him, “Taylor we raised him to hate us!”  
“We raised him to be independent,” Taylor corrected, “to be a forward thinker, and to know that his actions have consequences. Which he will have to face sooner or later.”  
“How could he do that to you?” she shook her head, and he knew she wasn’t really listening.  
“He was fourteen,” Taylor insisted, “he didn’t know what he was doing.”  
“And why are you defending him?!”  
“I’m not trying to,” Taylor raised his hands, “I just don’t want us to run off the road because you’re upset.”  
“I think I’m allowed to be,” she scorned before Nikki returned to the room with a suitcase and one of the boys’ backpacks.  
“Everything okay here?” she asked.  
“Fine,” Natalie wiped at her eyes, “are the boys ready to go?”  
“Almost,” Nikki assured, “I have Di helping me so you two can take off.”  
“As long as Penny and River are ready,” Natalie looked to the door as they heard the car moving outside.  
“Sounds like Penny’s ready at least,” Taylor mused, trying to make light, “is River driving yet?”  
“Not legally,” Nikki smirked before coming forward to give him a hug, “good luck, Tay.”  
“Thanks,” he replied, “we’ll see you again soon.”  
“You’re coming to Atlanta, right?” Natalie asked as Nikki hugged her too.  
“I’m going to head for Chicago,” she admitted, “I’ll call my parents on the way and let them know. But I might join you later.”  
“Okay,” Natalie nodded, less worried knowing she had a plan, “thank you, and good luck.”  
Nikki kissed her cheek as Taylor took Natalie’s last bag and waited for her to lead the way. She wiped her eyes again, gave Taylor a glance, and opened the front door.  
She froze. So suddenly that Taylor almost ran into her.  
“Whoa,” he pulled back, managing to hold the weight of the bag, “what is it?”  
He looked past her, and at first he couldn’t make it out. But as his eyes adjusted to the darkness outside he could just begin to make out her figure.  
But he didn’t believe it until she stepped into the light.  
“I thought I might find you here…” her tone was stoic, “long time no see.”  
Natalie took a step back and turned to look over her shoulder. Taylor found himself swallowing hard.  
“Kate?”


End file.
